AMERICAN  EDUCATION, 


PRINCIPLES  AND  ELEMENTS. 


DEDICATED  TO 


THE  TEACHEKS  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES. 


BY 

EDWARD  D.  MANSFIELD, 

AUTHOR    OF    THE    POLITICAL    GRAMMAR,    ETC.,    ETC. 


NEW   YORK: 
PUBLISHED    BY   A.   S.  BARNES  &  CO. 

NO.  51    JOHN-STREET. 

CINCINNATI:— H.  W.  DERBY  &  CO. 

1851. 


Entered  according  to  Act  of  Congress,  in  the  year  Eighteen  Hundred  and  fifty, 
BY  A.  S.  BARNES  &  COMPANY, 

In  the  Clerk's  Office  of  the  District  Court  of  the  United  States  for  the  Southern 
District  of  New  York. 


Stereotyped  by 

RICHARD  C.  VALENTINE, 
45  Gold-street,  New  York. 

F.  C.  GUTIERREZ,  Printer, 

No.  51  John-street,  corner  of  Dutch. 


PREFACE. 


I  HAVE  only  one  thing  to  say,  by  way  of 
preface.  This  little  work  is  suggestive  of 
principles,  and  not  intended  to  point  out  a 
course  of  studies.  Its  aim  is  to  excite  atten 
tion  to  what  should  be  the  elements  of  an 
American  education  ;  or,  in  other  words,  what  . 
are  the  ideas  connected  with  a  republican  and 
Christian  education  in  this  period  of  rapid  de 
velopment.  I  wished  to  turn  the  thoughts  of 
those  engaged  in  the  direction  of  youth  to  the 
fact,  that  it  was  the  entire  soul,  in  all  its  facul 
ties,  which  needed  education,  and  not  any  one 
of  its  talents  ;  and  that  this  was  a  need  espe 
cially  of  our  country  and  times.  To  do  this, 
requires  a  complete  discipline  of  mind  and  an 
analysis  of  society. 

If  any  one  should  say  that  this  is  a  philo 
sophical  discussion  of  general  subjects,  and  not 


VIU  PEEFACE. 

a  directory  treatise  on  practical  topics,  I  admit 
the  justice  of  the  remark,  and  reply,  that  such 
only  it  was  intended  to  be.  On  the  philoso 
phy  of  American  education,  I  thought  I  might 
offer  my  reflections  without  presumption,  while 
on  the  particular  mode  of  actual  instruction 
I  was  not  qualified  to  advise. 

Brief  and  imperfect  as  my  reflections  on 
this  momentous  subject  are,  I  send  them  out 
as  a  well-meant,  if  not  a  valuable,  offering  to 
the  teachers  of  the  United  States.  They  may, 
perhaps,  aid  some  persons  in  contemplating 
those  higher  and  nobler  principles  which  lie 
beyond  the  details  of  books  and  the  modes 
of  instruction; — in  fine,  those  principles  which 
concern  universal  nature,  and  direct  the  des 
tiny  of  the  soul. 

August  29^,  1850. 


CONTENTS. 

CHAPTER  I. 

THE  IDEA  OF  A  REPUBLIC 13 

CHAPTER  II. 

THE  MEANS  OF  PERPETUATING  CIVIL  AND  RELIGIOUS  LIB 
ERTY  18 

CHAPTER  III. 

THE  IDEA  OF  AN  AMERICAN  EDUCATION 55 

CHAPTER  IV. 
THE  TEACHER— HIS  QUALIFICATIONS,  HIS   TEACHING,  AND 

HIS  CHARACTER 63 

The  Teacher  and  Subject-matter 64 

The  Mode  of  Teaching 74 

The  First  Error  of  Teaching • 77 

Second  Error  of  Teaching 79 

Third  Error  of  Teaching 80 

True  Mode  of  Teaching 82 

Personal  Character  of  the  Teacher 85 

Clear  Thoughts  and  Clear  Language 89 

The  Teacher  a  Lover  of  his  Country   91 

«  «        of  his  Profession    92 

The  Glory  of  Teaching 93 

CHAPTER  V. 

THE  IDEA  OF  SCIENCE 96 


10  CONTENTS. 


CHAPTER  VI. 

THE  UTILITY  OF  MATHEMATICS , 101 

The  Kinds  of  Mathematics 103 

Mathematical  Reasoning 104 

The  Order  of  Reasoning 106 

Biographical  Illustrations    110 

The  Attainment  of  Practical  Knowledge 117 

The  Student  without  Mathematics 123 

"        with  Mathematics 127 

CHAPTER  VII. 

THE  UTILITY  OF  ASTRONOMY 134 

Astronomy  determines  Time    137 

Light,  and  its  Theory    143 

Astronomy  determines  the  Form  of  the  Earth 146 

"  "  Place  on  the  Eajlh 150 

"  "  the  Magnitude  of  the  Globe.  153 

"  the  Measure  of  Lands,  and  is 

the  Basis  of  the  Public  Surveys 154 

Influence  of  Astronomy  on  the  Human  Mind 163 

The  Problem  of  the  Celestial  Bodies 167 

The  Student  of  Astronomy  studying  the  Heavens  . .  171 

CHAPTER  VIII. 

THE  UTILITY  OF  HISTORY 174 

What  the  Science  of  History  is 177 

The  Uses  of  History  181 

History  the  Development  of  Human  Nature 188 

"        is  Dramatic 191 

Nations  are  represented  in  History 194 

History  is  the  Record  of  God's  Providence  in  the 

Government  of  Man .198 


CONTENTS.  11 


CHAPTER  IX. 

THE  SCIENCE  OF  LANGUAGE   205 

Language  an  Instrument  of  Reason 206 

Classification  of  Language 208 

The  Science  of  Language  is  an  Illustration  of  His 
tory  212 

Language  is  the  Record  of  Social  Progress 215 

CHAPTER  X. 

LITERATURE  A  MEANS  OF  EDUCATION  220 

Literature  an  Expression  of  Thought 222 

«         in  Forming  Style 225 

«         the  Guide  of  Imagination 230 

«         an  Educator 239 

"         how  to  be  selected 243 

*  CHAPTER  XI. 

CONVERSATION  AN  INSTRUCTOR 246 

Utility  of  Conversation 248 

Conversation,  how  directed 252 

"  how  carried  on 255 

The  Communion  of  Spirits  an  Educator 258 

CHAPTER  XII. 

THE  CONSTITUTION — THE  LAW-BOOK  OF  THE  NATION 260 

The  Nature  of  the  Constitution 262 

Sovereignty  of  the  People 264 

The  Citizen  a  Sovereign 266 

A  Citizen  a  Subject 268 

The  Citizen  an  Officer 270 

The  Constitution  an  Instructor 272 


12  CONTENTS. 


CHAPTER  XIII. 

THE  BIBLE — THE  LAW-BOOK  FROM  HEAVEN 275 

The  Bible  the  oldest  and  truest  History  276 

"      a  Delineator  of  Human  Nature 279 

"      contains  the  Divine  Law 282 

"      contains  the  true  Principles  of  Progress. .  284 

"      announces  Future  Glory 288 

CHAPTER  XIV. 

THE  EDUCATION  OF  WOMEN   290 

The  Human  Nature  is  One 297 

Differences  of  Body  do  not  imply  different  Facul 
ties 299 

The  Education  of  Mothers 301 

Science  for  Women 305 

The  Cultivation  of  Language 315 

Composition 316 

Reading 318 

Accomplishments 319 

Religious  Teachings 323 

Domestic  Economy 324 

Programme  of  Female  Education 325 


ELEMENTARY  IDEAS 327 

THE  FUTURE    .  .  329 


AMERICAN  EDUCATION. 


CHAPTER   I. 

THE  IDEA  OF  A  REPUBLIC. 

A  REPUBLIC  is  a  civil  community  in  which  the 
PEOPLE  govern.  It  is  a  community  in  which  a  large 
number  of  persons  have  common  interests.  It  is  a 
community  governed  by  civil  laws ;  that  is,  laws 
made  by  civil  society,  as  an  organized  body,  and  not 
merely  the  laws  of  nature  or  religion.  These  laws 
are  made  by  the  people.  But  these  laws  may  be 
made  either  by  the  whole  people  or  by  part  of  the 
people.  When  made  by  the  whole  people,  then  it  is 
a  DEMOCRATIC  REPUBLIC.  Such  is  the  United  States 
Republic.  Here  the  whole  people  govern  themselves 
by  laws  made  by  themselves.  Hence  the  people  here 
are  called  sovereign ;  for  each  individual  in  the 
United  States,  as  one  in  the  government,  exercises, 
according  to  the  principle  of  the  government,  a  part 
of  the  sovereign  power,  which  in  monarchies  is  ex 
ercised  by  the  monarch. 

The  IDEA  of  republican  government  in  the  United 
States  is  the  idea  of  A  PEOPLE  GOVERNING  THEM 
SELVES. 


14  AMERICAN   EDUCATION. 

Now  every  reasonable  person  will  readily  grant 
that  whatever  may  be  the  primary  idea  or  principle 
in  the  government  which  a  nation  has  adopted,  all 
the  laws  and  civil  institutions  which  are  also  adopted 
in  that  nation  should  conform  to  that  idea.  For  if 
they  do  not,  there  must  be  a  direct  inconsistency  be 
tween  the  primary  and  the  secondary  institutions  of 
the  nation.  There  will  arise  an  internal  conflict, 
first,  between  the  laws  themselves ;  next,  between  the 
practical  consequences  which  flow  from  those  laws ; 
and,  lastly,  between  different  portions  of  the  nation ; 
who  will  think  that  either  the  one  or  the  other  class 
of  laws  are  better  adapted  to  their  wants.  The 
house  will  be  divided  against  itself;  and,  sooner  or 
later,  will  fall.  History  furnishes  us  with  many  ex 
amples  of  this  inconsistency  and  of  its  fatal  effects. 
The  growth  of  modern  legislative  assemblies  in  Eu 
rope,  for  example  (just  so  far  as  they  gain  power), 
diminishes  the  power  of  the  monarchy.  In  England 
we  see  the  monarchy  has  become  merely  nominal. 
In  France  it  has  been  twice  destroyed.  This  is  in 
consequence  of  the  inconsistency  of  an  absolute  mon 
archy  on  the  one  hand,  and  of  a  representing  assem 
bly  making  laws  on  the  other.  So  also  we  see  the 
people  in  the  Commonwealth  of  England,  and  in 
France  after  the  first  Revolution,  losing  their  power, 
and  the  Republic  destroyed,  in  consequence  of  placing 
monarchical  powers  in  the  hands  of  the  first  magis 
trate.  The  existence  of  monarchical  powers  in  the 
hands  of  a  magistrate  are  inconsistent  with  the  ex- 


THE  IDEA  OF  A  REPUBLIC.  15 

istence  of  legislative  power  in  the  hands  of  the  people. 
Either  this  despotic  magistrate  must  be  reduced  to 
an  officer  of  the  law  only,  or  the  people  will  become 
the  mere  subjects  of  a  monarch. 

In  the  idea  of  a  republic,  then,  is  included  the  idea 
of  a  conformity  or  consistency  between  the  sove 
reignty  which  the  people  hold  in  the  government 
and  their  capacity  to  exercise  that  sovereignty.  If 
the  people  have  not  both  the  intelligence  and  the  vir 
tue  which  is  necessary  to  self-government,  how  can 
a  republic  be  maintained  ? 

It  is  in  consequence  of  this  obvious  necessity  in 
republics  of  a  higher  degree  of  intelligence  and  public 
virtue  than  is  necessary  in  monarchies,  that  Montes 
quieu  makes  the  following  remarks,*  which  are  even 
more  strikingly  true  now  than  a  century  since,  when 
they  were  published. 

"  It  is  in  republican  government  that  the  whole 
power  of  education  is  required.  The/ear  of  despotic 
governments  naturally  arises  of  itself  amidst  threats 
and  punishments  ;  the  honor  of  monarchies  is  favored 
by  the  passions,  and  favors  them  in  its  turn ;  but  vir 
tue  is  a  self-renunciation,  which  is  ever  arduous  and 
painful. 

"  Now,  government  is  like  every  thing  else ;  to  pre 
serve  it  we  must  love  it.  Has  it  ever  been  heard,  that 
kings  were  not  fond  of  monarchy,  or  that  despotic 
princes  hated  arbitrary  power  ?  Every  thing,  there- 

*  Spirit  of  Laws,  book  iv.,  chap.  5. 


16  AMERICAN  EDUCATION. 

fore,  depends  on  establishing  this  love  in  a  republic  ; 
and  to  inspire  it  ought  to  be  the  principal  business  of 
education  ;  but,  the  surest  way  of  instilling  it  into 
children,  is  for  parents  to  set  them  an  example. 
People  have  it  generally  in  their  power  to  communi-  . 
cate  their  ideas  to  their  children ;  but  they  are  still 
better  able  to  transfuse  their  passions." 

The  idea  of  a  republic  includes  in  it,  therefore,  the 
capacity  of  the  people — by  means  of  religious  and  in 
tellectual  education — to  exercise  justly  the  sovereign 
ty  with  which  they  are  invested.  In  vain  will  either 
an  ignorant  or  corrupted  people  seek  to  acquire  or 
maintain  republican  institutions.  There  is  a  positive 
antagonism  between  the  possession  of  civil  power  re 
quiring  the  highest  exercise  of  reason,  and  the  want 
of  that  intelligence  and  integrity  which  are  essential 
to  the  right  use  of  reason  itself.  This  antagonism 
renders  the  destruction  of  a  republic  inevitable,  un 
less  the  people  happily  rise  to  a  voluntary  correction 
of  the  evil,  and  fortunately  attain  a  successful  refor 
mation. 

The  idea  of  a  defined  republic,  also  includes  in  it  a 
reference  to  the  specific  objects  held  in  view,  and  the 
degree  of  civilization  prevalent  in  the  age.  In  the 
Republic  of  the  United  States  the  specific  object  is 
declared  to  be  to  form  a  UNION,  establish  JUSTICE,  in 
sure  TRANQUILLITY,  provide  a  DEFENCE,  promote  the 
general  WELFARE,  and  secure  the  blessings  of  LIBERTY. 
All  of  these  may  be  included  under  the  general  phrase, 

CIVIL  AND  RELIGIOUS  LIBERTY.      For  without  both  of 


THE  IDEA  OF  A  REPUBLIC.  17 

these  neither  union,  justice,  tranquillity,  the  general 
welfare,  or  freedom  can  exist; — for  without  these 
there  must  exist  a  government  more  or  less  despotic, 
which  again  implies  ignorance  ; — which  again  implies 
a  want  of  those  profound  religious  principles  and  high 
intellectual  powers,  without  which  a  nation  can  nei 
ther  maintain  harmony,  nor  understand  justice,  nor 
tolerate  freedom. 

The  Republic  of  the  United  States  also  exists  in  an 
age  of  the  highest  Christian  light  and  civilization.. 
The  intelligence  and  virtue,  therefore,  which  it  must 
possess  in  order  to  maintain  republican  institutions, 
must  be  of  no  common  measure  or  low  degree.  It 
must  attain  the  highest  measure  of  that  natural  light 
which  science  has  revealed  in  developing  the  works 
of  creation,  and  of  that  spiritual  light  which  God  has 
revealed  in  the  scriptures  of  truth.  At  least  such 
must  be  the  ultimate  measure  of  an  education  suited 
to  this  republic,  in  this  age.  We  have  now  come  to 
these  conclusions : — The  idea  of  a  republic,  is  the 
idea  of  a  people  governing  themselves.  This  includes, 
also,  the  idea  of  a  people  possessed  of  that  intelligence 
and  virtue  which  is  essential  to  self-government. 
The  Republic  of  the  United  States  is  founded  on  the 
principle  of  civil  and  religious  liberty.  Education  in 
the  United  States  must,  therefore,  conform  to  the 
highest  standard  of  modern  science  and  of  Christian 
civilization.  An  AMERICAN  REPUBLIC  must,  then,  be 
founded  on  an  AMERICAN  EDUCATION; — an  education 
arising  out  of  the  nature  of  its  institutions  ;  imbued 

2 


18  AMERICAN   EDUCATION. 

with  the  knowledge  of  its  era  ;  and  filled  with  all  that 
is  free,  true,  hopeful,  and  glorious  in  the  New  Testa 
ment,  revealed  through  Christ. 


CHAPTER  II. 

THE  MEANS  OF  PERPETUATING  CIVIL  AND  RELIGIOUS    LIBERTY. 

"  Add  to  your  faith,  virtue  ;  and  to  virtue,  knowledge." 

2  Peter,  ch.  1,  v.  5. 

THE  idea  of  a  republic,  I  have  said,  is  substantially 
that  of  a  people  governing  themselves,  and  therefore 
implying  the  capacity  for  self-government.  This 
again  implies  the  necessity  of  an  education  for  the 
whole  people ;  an  education  adapted  to  develop  the 
entire  faculties  of  man, — whether  intellectual  or  spirit 
ual  :  for  we  must  ever  recollect,  that  the  American 
republic  has  asserted  new  principles  of  government, 
and  therefore  demands  an  AMERICAN  EDUCATION. 
What  are  these  new  principles  ?  They  are,  that 
the  rights  of  all  constitute  the  basis, — and  the  hap 
piness  of  all,  the  object  of  government.  These  prin 
ciples  are  the  joint  fruits  of  the  progress  made  in 
civilization  and  Christianity.  The  first  springs  from 
science ;  the  second  is  the  child  of  the  Reformation. 
These  are  the  principles  we  have  derived  from  the 
founders  of  the  American  nation  ; — and  which,  we 
trust,  will  long  survive  the  crumbling  institutions  of 
other  lands. 


CIVIL  AND  RELIGIOUS  LIBERTY.  19 

I  propose  here  to  discuss  the  MEANS  OF  PERPETUA 
TING  CIVIL  AND  RELIGIOUS  LIBERTY.*  I  say  perpetua 
ting,  because  it  cannot  be  doubted  that  the  citizens 
of  the  United  States  do  actually  possess  civil  and 
religious  liberty  in  the  highest  degree. 

Conceding  that  the  machinery  of  our  government 
may  hereafter  be  amended,  yet  it  is  certain  that  the 
great  principles  of  liberty  are  already  established 
here.  The  only  practical  inquiry  is,  therefore,  how 
are  they  to  be  perpetuated  ? 

1.  The  first  means  of  perpetuating  civil  and  reli 
gious  liberty,  is  to  understand  what  it  is  ;f  for  when 

*  It  is  one  thing  to  acquire,  and  another  to  preserve  liberty.  All 
the  renowned  nations  of  the  world  have,  in  the  process  of  revolutions, 
passed  from  anarchy  to  despotism;  and  in  that  progress  have,  at 
some  time  or  other,  been  at  what  may  be  called  the  stage  of  national 
freedom.  At  that  point  they  have  remained  a  greater  or  less  period 
of  time,  just  in  proportion  as  they  possessed  the  fundamental  princi 
ples  I  have  endeavored  here  to  delineate.  No  theory,  or  machinery 
of  government  has,  per  se,  any  magic  to  preserve  its  salutary  functions, 
in  spite  of  a  diseased  and  corrupted  people.  They  are  the  life,  while 
the  government  is  the  form  through  -which  they  act.  To  trace  this 
necessary  relation  between  the  character  <,'('  the  people  and  that  of 
the  government  in  a  condensed  form  is  the  object  of  this  chapter ; 
and  it  seems  obvious,  from  the  signs  of  the  times,  that  that  relation  is 
very  little  understood,  and  still  less  practised  upon. 

f  One  who  does  not  understand  a  thing  cannot  practise  upon  it. 
Now,  up  to  the  year  1828,  and  in  a  great  measure  up  to  the  present 
period,  well-educated  Americans  studied  more  of  the  Grecian  Mythol 
ogy,  and  far  more  of  European  wars,  than  they  did  of  the  structure 
and  functions  of  their  own  government.  Very  recently  most  of  the 
colleges  have  ventured  to  place  beside  Hebrew  and  metaphysics,  the 
study  of  the  Constitution ;  and  it  is  hoped  they  will  not  be  censured 


20  AMERICAN  EDUCATION. 

understood,  strange  indeed  would  be  that  being,  who 
could  prefer  any  form  of  tyranny,  whether  it  be  of 
the  many  or  the  few,  to  the  beautiful  system  of  con 
stitutional  freedom.  (  The  new  principle  of  civil  lib 
erty,  then,  is  that  the  whole  people  shall  govern,  not 
by  instant  and  impulsive  action,  but,  as  gravitation 
holds  the  planets,  by  uniform  and  regulated  law.  It 
is  new,  because  the  records  of  all  antiquity,  and  the 
constitutions  of  all  other  governments,  will  be  searched 
in  vain  for  any  theory  which  acknowledges  that  gov 
ernment  is  the  right  of  the  whole  people,  and  must  be 
administered  for  their  happiness.  If  history  confirms 
any  proposition,  it  is  that  in  all  the  republics  of  the 
past,  whether  ancient  or  modern,  the  great  mass  of 
the  people  were  disregarded  by  the  institutions  and 
separated  from  the  interests  of  their  country.  Does 

for  so  daring  an  undertaking !  The  great  body  of  high  schools  and 
academies,  however,  are  still,  in  relation  to  this  subject,  dumb.  The 
people  are,  indeed,  obliged  to  know  something  of  popular  government, 
for  they  are  compelled  to  participate  in  the  conflict  of  parties,  and 
the  discussions  of  the  press ;  but  Avhat  kind  of  knowledge  is  it  ?  One 
which  is  made  up  of  inaccuracies  and  exaggerations.  Thousands  think 
that  liberty  consists  in  doing  just  what  one  pleases  ;  and  recent  events 
would  lead  us  to  conclude  that  this  was  the  prevalent  notion.  A  still 
larger  portion  think  that  it  consists  simply  in  the  right  of  representa 
tion,  no  matter  what  the  representative  may  do,  or  what  may  be  his 
character  for  integrity  and  intelligence.  But  very  few  think  that 
freedom  is  a  creature  of  checks  and  restraints,  rather  than  of  license 
and  impulse.  The  American  government  is  composed  wholly  of  the 
former,  and  is  strong  just  in  proportion  to  its  complication :  for  this 
very  reason  its  study  should  be  made  as  general  as  possible  among 
the  people. 


CIVIL  AND  RELIGIOUS  LIBERTY.  21 

any  one  doubt  this  ?  Let  him  go  to  that  land,  whose 
laws  more  than  those  of  any  other  have  been  the 
study  of  the  statesman,  whose  people  were  the  most 
ingenious  and  inquiring,  as  they  were  the  most  refined 
of  the  ancient  nations,  whose  glory  lives,  even  here, 
in  whatever  of  art  or  genius  can  survive  decay.  Go 
to  the  fierce  democracy  of  Athens,  and  who  were  its 
citizens  and  governors  ?  Were  they  the  mass  of  the 
people?  Were  they  the  cultivators  of  the  soil  ?  Were 
they  the  few  or  the  many  ?  The  least  numerous  part 
of  the  people  were  those  who  held  the  rights  of  citi 
zenship.  A  large  class  were  metics,  residents  for  the 
purpose  of  trade  and  manufactures ;  and  the  largest 
portion  slaves.  Such  also  was  the  condition  of  Lace- 
dasmon,  of  Rome,  and  of  all  the  ancient  republics. 
In  all  the  spirit  of  domination  prevailed ;  and  whilst, 
aided  by  the  then  existing  science,  by  the  hardihood 
of  the  rugged  virtues,  and  by  all  the  spirit  of  elo 
quence,  they  subdued  from  the  weakness  and  igno 
rance  of  barbarism  province  after  province,  and  na 
tion  after  nation,  they  added  nothing  to  the  family  of 
Grecian  or  of  Roman  citizens.  The  conquered  were 
left  on  the  vast,  dead  level  of  slavery,  or  in  the  con 
dition  of  tributaries  to  the  wealth  and  strength  of 
others.  Such  is  the  picture  of  ancient  liberty.  And 
did  Venice,  or  Genoa,  or  Florence  improve  upon  the 
example  ? — See  the  terrible  aristocracy  of  Venice, 
and  the  alternate  prevalence  of  faction  and  families 
in  Florence,  the  once  happy  seat  of  letters  and  the 
arts. 


22  AMERICAN  EDUCATION. 

There  is,  then,  a  radical  difference  between  the 
origin  and  object  of  government  in  our  republic  and 
those  of  other  countries.  But  there  is  another  differ 
ence  equally  distinct,  and  equally  necessary  to  the 
happiness  of  the  people.  (  This  is,  that  now  liberty 
can  act  only  through  defined  and  limited  organs, 
created  by  the  people.  These  are  responsible  to  the 
power  which  created  them,  and  are  yet  unchange 
able,  except  by  its  deliberate  action.  In  other  free 
countries,  it  acted  by  the  instantaneous,  unrestrained 
impulse  of  the  popular  will.*  Here,  however  omni 
potent  this  popular  will  may  be  in  the  creation  of 
laws  and  constitutions,  it  can  only  act  through  them, 
while  they  exist.  The  difference  between  these  sys 
tems  is  as  wide  as  that  between  a  meteor  and  a 
planet.  Both  obey  a  common  force ;  but  one,  unre- 

*  The  Athenian  democracy,  for  example,  was,  with  little  exception, 
one  of  impulse,  without  regulation.  A  pure  democracy  must  always  be 
so.  In  such  a  case  the  people  govern  by  their  direct  action,  without 
representation — a  form  of  government  which  is  only  possible  in  small 
communities.  In  the  United  States  it  is  otherwise.  Here  is  the  gov 
ernment  of  a  great  nation,  with  its  powers  divided  among  states,  repre 
sentatives,  departments,  and  a  great  variety  of  checks  and  balances,  by 
which  the  popular  will  is  restrained  till  time  is  given  for  deliberation. 

Among  the  Grecian  people  the  majority  were  slaves,  and  the  ten 
dency  of  all  their  institutions  was  to  increase  the  servile  class,  and 
diminish  the  citizens.  When  Xenophon  drew  up  a  plan  of  govern 
ment  for  Athens,  his  sole  desire  was  to  subsist  the  citizens  wholly  by 
the  labor  of  slaves,  and,  for  this  purpose,  to  diminish  the  number  of 
the  former.  Hence,  Mr.  Mitford  remarks,  that  to  the  slave  war  was  a 
blessing ;  for  it  compelled  the  master,  by  the  fear  of  desertion,  to  treat 
him  with  kindness. — MitforcTs  Greece,  vol.  iv.  chap.  21. 


CIVIL  AND  RELIGIOUS  LIBERTY.  23 

strained  by  law,  shoots  its  glory  forth,  quickly  to 
perish ;  while  the  other,  governed  by  the  regular 
action  of  constant  and  balanced  principles,  returns 
from  time  to  time  to  yield  its  steady  light  to  the  mar 
iner,  and  fix  the  eye  of  a  glorious  faith. 

To  illustrate  this  difference  by  obvious  examples, 
take  the  separation  of  departments.  The  power  to 
judge  was  never,  it  is  believed,  wholly  separated 
from  the  power  to  legislate,  or  to  execute,  till  our 
republic  was  instituted.*  How  disastrous  their  union 
has  been  in  other  governments,  is  fearfully  exhibited 
in  the  long  and  melancholy  record  of  popular  as  well 
as  despotic  tyranny.  For  the  union  of  these  distinct 
powers  of  government  in  one  department,  makes,  in 
itself,  a  despotism. 

The  definition  of  treason,  say  the  most  enlightened 
statesmen  of  modern  times,  is  inseparable  from  lib 
erty.  This  definition,  without  the  admission  of  any 
construction,  was  first  made,  with  precision,  in  the 
Constitution  of  the  United  States. f  Without  it, 
treason  becomes  just  what  the  momentary  passions 
of  the  people,  or  the  monarch,  make  it.  The  patriot 
of  to-day,  becomes  the  traitor  of  to-morrow. J  To 

*  See  Adams's  "  Defence  of  the  American  Republic,"  vol.  i.  p.  362. 

f  United  States'  Constitution,  art.  iii.  sec.  3. 

$  By  the  ancient  common  law  of  England,  treason  was  undefined 
and  constructive.  This  gave  rise  to  a  statute  defining  treason,  entitled 
of  the  25th  of  Edward  IIL  From  that  statute,  as  far  as  it  was  ap 
plicable,  the  very  words  of  the  American  Constitution  was  taken,  in 
order  that  they  might  receive  the  same  interpretation  which  had  long 


24  AMERICAN   EDUCATION. 

be  called  the  just,  is  enough  to  make  an  exile.  Such 
was  Aristides,  Cicero,  and  Sydney.  The  same  pas 
sions  are  everywhere  common  to  humanity.  They 
have  swayed,  and  will  again  sway  our  country.  But 
sad  will  be  the  day  when  the  wishes  of  the  populace 
shall  become  the  definition  of  treason,  or  the  tumults 
of  passion  mistaken  for  the  duties  of  patriotism. 

2.  Next  to  understanding  what  liberty  is,  the  great 
means  of  perpetuating  it  will  be  found  in  the  adapta 
tion  of  popular  action  to  the  new  constitution  of 
things.  Nations,  like  individuals,  are  organized 
bodies.  The  state  of  anarchy  is  only  a  state  of  tran 
sition;  never  of  permanent  rest.  And  whether  we 
regard  a  nation  as  subsisting  under  the  lifeless  civili 
zation  of  China — the  military  domination  of  Russia — 
or  the  patriarchal  government  of  an  Arab  tribe — we 
shall  find  them  acting  upon  principles  adapted  to 
their  mode  of  organization ;  without  which,  indeed, 
they  might  have  continued  their  national  existence, 
but  must  have  changed  its  form,  and  its  principles. 
If,  for  example,  the  Arab  tribe,  living  under  a  patri 
archal  government,  would  give  up  the  principle  of 
social  equality,  or  create  an  individual  tenure  in  the 
soil,  they  would  cease  to  be  what  they  are — the  un- 

been  attached  to  them  in  the  administration  of  the  English  courts. 
But  it  must  be  observed  that  only  a  small  part  of  it  was  applicable  ; 
for,  under  the  English  statute,  there  were  no  less  than  seven  kinds  of 
treason,  and  some  of  them  very  indefinite ;  so  that  any  one  who  con 
sults  iv.  Blackstone,  76-90,  will  discover  that,  at  last,  it  is  only  in 
America  that  treason  is  certainly  and  accurately  defined. 


CIVIL  AND  RELIGIOUS    LIBERTY.  25 

subdued  children  of  the  desert — a  living  testimony  to 
the  truth  of  prophecy.  If  the  Hindoo  had  abandoned 
the  caste — the  peculiar  principle  of  his  aristocracy — 
he  would  long  since  have  melted  into  Mohammedan 
ism,  or  now  have  opposed  a  less  icy  barrier  to  the 
progress  of  Christianity.  Popular  action,  then,  must 
conform  to  the  organization  of  a  nation,  or  that  nation 
must  change  its  organization.*  What,  then,  is  the 


*  There  are  but  three  ways  in  which  aristocracy  can  be  main 
tained: — 1st.  By  a  distinction,  which  is  made  part  of  the  religious 
code,  and  perpetuated  by  the  superstitions  of  the  people ;  2d.  By 
military  gradation,  and  which  can  only  subsist  where  the  bulk  of 
able-bodied  men  are  employed  in  military  service ;  and  3d,  Where 
the  law,  and  not  talents  or  industry,  creates  an  unequal  distribution 
of  property.  The  first  is  exemplified  in  the  castes  of  Hindostan  ;  the 
second  was  exhibited  in  the  feudal  system ;  and  the  third  may  be 
seen  in  the.  restriction  on  inheritances  and  sales  which  have  prevailed 
heretofore  in  a  large  part  of  Europe.  In  America  none  of  these  ex 
ist,  or  can  exist,  till  every  thing  which  is  peculiar  in  American  politi 
cal  institutions  have  been  destroyed.  The  destruction  of  primogeni 
ture,  fee-tail,  and  other  feudal  contrivances,  has  taken  away  the  pos 
sibility  of  a  continued  ascendancy  of  particular  families  by  means  of 
continued  wealth,  unless  there  be  with  it  the  union  of  talents,  indus 
try,  and  integrity.  The  constant  succession  we  see  around  us  in  par 
ticular  families  of  poverty,  or  wealth,  or  competence  only,  is  like  the 
ebb  and  flow  of  the  tides.  Nor  can  this  elevation  and  depression  be 
prevented,  except  by  the  universal  diffusion  of  that  which  every 
family  and  every  nation  ought  to  seek — sound  principles  with  sound 
knowledge.  These  bring  with  them  the  economical  virtues  of  fru 
gality,  temperance,  and  industiy.  It  is  true,  these  cannot  prevent 
the  inequalities  of  natural  capacity  ;  yet  they  modify  them  so  far  as 
to  prevent  total  poverty  or  imbecility.  Fools  and  geniuses  are  sel 
dom  such  by  nature  ;  there  is  little  of  folly,  which  was  not  originally 


26  AMERICAN   EDUCATION. 

popular  action  required  by  our  organization  ?  What 
should  be  the  elements  of  social  character  in  that 
nation,  who  are  both  governors  and  governed  ?  that 
people,  who  have  written  upon  their  standard  in 
golden  characters,  and  unfurled  it  from  the  mountain 
top  to  the  gaze  of  nations — that  government  is  the 
right,  and  is  instituted  for  the  happiness  of  all? 

There  are  two  principles  which  are  fundamental  in 
all  governments  wholly  free  ;  and  to  which  popirlai 
action  must  be  adapted,  or  they  must  change  their 
form.  They  who  govern  must  know  how  to  govern  ;y 
and  they  who  govern  rightly,  must  themselves  be 
right.  Intelligence  and  virtue,  therefore,  are  pre 
supposed,  by  the  very  organization  of  our  govern 
ment. 

They  are  the  necessary  elements  of  its  existence. 
And  this  is  peculiar  to  governments  wholly  popular. 
For  whether  we  take  a  military  domination,  or  an  he 
reditary  despotism,  or  a  limited  monarchy,  or  an  aris 
tocracy,  or  any  other  form  which  excludes  the  majority, 
the  character  of  the  mass,  however  much  it  may  con- 
occasioned  by  neglect  or  idleness;  and  little  of  the  admirable  in 
talent,  which  had  not  its  origin  in  industry  and  will. 

The  equality  of  distribution  created  by  the  law  in  respect  to  prop 
erty  and  political  privileges,  is  elemental  in  republics.  But  that 
species  of  equality,  or  rather  levelling,  which  destroys  the  distinction 
between  industry  and  vice,  by  destroying  the  property  which  one 
has  acquired  and  the  other  lost,  and  the  social  distinctions  arising 
from  virtue  and  talents  on  the  one  hand,  and  vice  and  folly  on  the 
other,  belongs  only  to  the  worst  species  of  anarchy,  in  the  worst 
peiiod  of  human  degradation. 


CIVIL  AND  RELIGIOUS  LIBERTY.  27 

cern  themselves,  has  nothing  to  do  with  institutions 
directed  by  others.  It  is  then  the  necessity,  as  it 
certainly  should  be  the  glory  of  our  country,  to  cher 
ish  whatsoever  is  wise,  or  excellent,  or  elevating  in 
the  human  character. 

3.  The  most  important  object  of  popular  action, 
then,  under  a  free  government,  is  to  make  the  prin 
ciple  of  intelligence  general  in  the  mass,  and  to  ele 
vate  it  as  knowledge  increases.  What  is  intelligence? 
It  is  cultivated  mind,  the  developed  faculties  of  the 
human  understanding.  To  be  capable  of  that  devel 
opment  is,  next  to  immortality,  the  most  glorious  gift 
of  God  to  man  :  to  be  permitted  to  seek  it,  a  right 
guarantied  by  all  institutions  which  do  not  seek  to 
fetter  soul  as  well  as  body.  To  seek  it  Jree  as  the 
mountain  air — the  very  element  of  republics.  To 
seek  it  under  forms  which  allure  to  heaven  as  well 
as  adorn  the  earth — the  privilege  of  the  Christian  sys 
tem.  This  development  of  the  faculties,  which  is  a 
combination  of  knowledge  and  of  thought,  is  the  ob 
ject  of  all  systems  and  schools  of  instructions.  But 
to  attain  that  object  there  is,  and  there  always  has 
been,  two  very  different  methods  of  teaching.  The 
one  teaches  to  think,  the  other  to  repeat.  The  one 
teaches  principles,  the  other  rules :  the  one  systems, 
the  other  particulars.  About  these  different  plans 
there  are  different  opinions.  The  great  majority  of 
mankind,  however,  from  the  Egyptian  to  the  Hindoo, 
from  the  Chinese  to  the  Roman  priesthood,  have  fol 
lowed  repetition ;  and  even  at  this  hour,  the  mass  of 


28  AMERICAN  EDUCATION. 

enlightened  modern  Europe  prefer  rule  to  principle, 
whether  it  be  applied  to  the  teaching  of  childhood  or 
the  greater  affairs  of  government.  On  the  other 
hand,  a  few  in  ancient  and  many  in  modern  times, 
believed  it  better  to  exercise  their  own  faculties  than 
to  have  them  moved  by  others.  The  philosophers  of 
Greece,  and  the  Apostle  of  the  Gentiles  reasoning 
with  them,  the  men  of  science  and  the  disciples  of 
the  Reformation,  are  of  this  school.  What  has  been 
the  result,  as  exhibited  by  history  and  observation, 
of  these  different  modes  of  teaching  upon  the  earth 
and  its  inhabitants  ? 

A  few  men,  while  the  mind  was  yet  unfettered,  in 
the  early  ages  of  Egypt,  or  India,  or  China,  discover 
ed  the  mere  elements  of  mechanics,  of  astronomy,  of 
written  language ;  but,  about  the  same  time,  the 
people  discovered  they  could  be  relieved  from  the 
troubles  of  conscience,  by  just  imposing  them  upon 
the  priesthood ;  and  from  the  cares  of  government, 
by  just  confiding  them  to  some  particular  class,  or 
family,  who  by  some  freak  of  nature  had  acquired 
the  sole  capacity  to  govern,  and,  by  some  still  odder 
freak,  had  the  power  of  perpetuating  it.  Science  had 
done  enough  to  enable  monarchs  to  build  cities,  erect 
monuments,  and  sleep  in  the  dust  with  their  faces  to 
the  east ;  and  then,  deprived  of  its  power  to  inquire, 
slept  the  dreamless  slumber  of  indolence.  And  what 
became  of  the  nations — the  people  ?  They  learned 
to  repeat.  The  million  did  as  they  had  done.  They 
continued  to  build  sepulchres,  write  hieroglyphics.. 


CIVIL  AND  RELIGIOUS  LIBERTY.  29 

gaze  at  the  moon,  obey  castes,  follow  Brahma,  and 
despise  the  barbarians.  They  continued  from  age  to 
age  to  look  back  with  increasing  astonishment,  as  in 
creasing  mists  magnified  the  lights  of  antiquity,  at 
the  wonderful  intelligence  of  their  ancestors,  who  had 
brought  such  a  wonderful  system  as  theirs  into  being!* 
Through  three  thousand  years,  they  still  look  back 
with  unmingled  surprise  at  the  miraculous  powers  of 
that  mechanic  who  first  learned  how  to  raise  one 


*  The  Chinese  have  long  believed  that  they  really  were  the 
sources  of  all  civilization ;  and  that  to  prevent  degeneracy,  it  was 
absolutely  necessary  to  erect  an  iron  barrier  between  them  and  all 
other  nations.  What  the  effect  of  this  is,  is  easily  seen  in  the  state  of 
their  institutions,  arts,  and  manners.  It  is  not  discoverable  that  they 
have  at  all  changed  in  their  habits,  or  made  any  advances  in  know 
ledge,  for  many  generations.  Yet  it  is  very  evident  that  they  learned 
all  that  they  do  know,  in  early  ages.  "When  the  embassy  of  Lord 
Macartney  visited  them,  the  Europeans,  who  for  the  first  time  were 
permitted  to  visit  the  interior  of  China,  were  surprised  to  find  the 
Chinese  artists  capable  of  repairing  some  of  the  most  refined  parts 
of  their  astronomical  instruments  ;  yet  it  did  not  appear  they  knew 
any  thing  of  the  uses  of  these  instruments :  it  was  the  mechanical 
part  they  could  understand,  and  that  was  not  of  modern  acquisition. 
More  recent  travellers  have  shown  the  hollow,  yet  antiquated  frame 
of  things  in  that  ancient  empire.  Indeed,  as  the  author  of  "  Saturday 
Evening"  has  well  remarked,  every  thing  in  the  civilization  and  super 
stitions  of  those  eastern  nations,  is  in  a  state  of  decrepitude.  They 
are  like  an  old  tower  still  standing  in  Italy,  so  far  decayed  and  bent 
over  from  its  base,  that  every  passer-by  expects  to  see  it  fall.  The 
eastern  nations  are  incapable  of  doing  what  Europe  can — accommo 
dating  themselves  to  the  new  constitution  of  the  moral  world.  They 
have  not  done  so,  in  the  least.  The  consequence  is,  that  they  are 
ready  to  fall,  comparatively,  at  a  touch. 


AMERICAN   EDUCATION. 

stone  upon  another* — the  great  genius  of  him  who 
first  discovered  that  the  sun  rose  in  the  east  and  set 
in  the  west !  Such  are  the  results  in  the  school  of 
repetition.  It  found  the  world  with  the  beginnings  of 
civilization,  and  it  took  care  to  perpetuate  them,  by 
erecting  a  system  of  civil  machinery,  by  which  the 
last  mind  should  be  ground  out  precisely  on  the  model 
of  the  first.  How  extensive,  and  how  terrific  this 
system  has  been,  is  exhibited  in  the  history  of  the  old 
est  and  most  populous  portion  of  the  globe.  Nor  in 
that  alone,  but  in  every  land — as  in  Spain  or  Tur 
key — where  infallible  systems,  whether  of  religion  or 

*  The  great  pyramid  which  stood  near  Memphis  was  larger  than 
the  Temple  of  Diana,  and,  as  well  as  that,  was  called  one  of  the  won- 
ders  of  the  world.  The  Temple  of  Diana  was  426  feet  at  its  base,  and 
contained  columns  of  white  marble,  of  which  the  shafts  were  60  feet 
in  length.  The  great  pyramid  was  660  feet  at  its  base,  and  466  in 
height.  So  massy  and  extensive  were  these  structures,  that  many 
even  now  inquire  how  they  could  have  been  erected.  They  who 
make  this  inquiry  know  very  little  of  mechanics,  and  still  less  of 
science,  when  they  adduce  these  monuments  as  evidences  of  ancient 
superiority  in  that  branch  of  knowledge.  If  the  assertion  of  an  an 
cient  philosopher,  that  he  could  move  the  earth  if  he  had  a  place  for 
his  lever,  be  true,  there  could  be  little  difficulty  in  devising  a  mode 
of  erecting  the  pyramids,  provided  only  that  men  and  money  could  be 
obtained  for  such  a  purpose.  The  latter  difficulty  did  not  stand  in 
the  way  of  the  Egyptian  king ;  for  we  are  informed  that  it  took  one 
hundred  thousand  men  ten  years  to  hew  the  stones,  and  twenty  years 
to  build  the  edifice !  And  at  last — sad  lesson  to  the  vanity  of  human 
greatness !— he  was  not  permitted  to  rest  in  the  mausoleum  his  am 
bition  had  built;  but,  pursued  by  the  vengeance  of  an  injured  people, 
the  burial  place  of  the  oppressor  was  hid  from  the  face  of  the  op 
pressed. 


CIVIL  AND  RELIGIOUS  LIBERTY.  31 

government,  have  sent  their  opiate  influences,  there 
are  monuments,  which,  like  those  of  Egypt,  stand  out 
from  the  sands  of  the  desert,  to  point,  not  so  much  to 
the  skill  and  power  which  erected  them,  as  to  the  ut 
ter  obliteration  of  heart  and  mind  which  follows  him 
who  manacles  the  human  intellect. 

But  what  have  been  the  results  in  the  school  of 
thinking?  It  transferred  the  power  of  originating 
and  improving  from  those  who  had  discovered  the 
best  pattern  of  mind,  to  a  nation  of  barbarians,  yet  a 
people  of  inquirers.  It  polished  their  language  till  it 
became  a  model  for  all  who  would  study  the  relation 
between  words  and  things.  It  cultivated  the  arts, 
till  the  forms  of  physical  beauty  were  exhausted.  It 
taught  mathematics  with  ceaseless  ardor,  and  in 
scribed  upon  the  doors  of  the  greatest  philosopher, 
"  Let  none  enter  here  who  have  not  studied  geome 
try."  It  imbibed  the  spirit  of  poetry,  and  swept  the 
lyre  of  Maeonides  till  its  notes,  rising  clear  and  high 
above  every  sound,  still  echo  from  the  hills,  still  linger 
around  these  abodes  of  learning.  It  courted  the 
mountain  nymph,  sweet  Liberty ;  nursed  the  republics 
of  old  ;  and  when  the  outward  form  in  which  it  was 
encased  perished  under  the  weight  of  pagan  insti 
tutions,  it  remodelled  other  nations  and  other  times, 
perpetuating  its  living  and  ever-growing  power  from 
age  to  age.  The  royal  Alfred  and  the  monk  Bacon, 
the  wild  Arabian  and  the  gay  Florentine,  in  turn  re 
ceived  its  mantle  ;  till  at  last  concentrated  in  the 
spirit  of  the  Reformation,  it  is  hurrying  forward  the 


32  AMERICAN  EDUCATION. 

chariot  wheels    of  knowledge   till   they   are   heated 
with  motion.  . 

Such  and  so  wide  is  the  history  of  nations  between 
those  who  learn  to  repeat  and  those  who  learn  to 
think.  And  is  not  the  principle  the  same  when  ap 
plied  to  individuals  ?  is  it  not  exhibited  as  plainly  in 
the  humble  school  by  the  roadside  as  when  expanded 
through  the  aggregate  mind  of  millions?  Are  not  those 
who  are  taught  without  thought  still  the  majority?  If 
there  are  troublesome  spirits  in  the  world  who  will 
think  for  themselves,  and  a  few  who  arrive  at  great 
truths  without  the  aid  of  "  royal  roads,"  are  there  not 
a  great  number  who  will  not  travel  any  path  of 
knowledge  till  it  is  strewn  with  down,  nor  then  till 
they  are  drawn  by  the  intellect  of  others  ?  Sustained 
by  natural  indolence,  and  yet  more  by  the  belief  that 
nothing  but  to  make  a  part  in  the  machinery  of  life 
belongs  to  the  mass,  the  system  of  teaching  without 
thought  silently,  but  surely,  creeps  over  nations  like 
the  livid  green  upon  the  stagnant  pool. 

To  comply  then  with  the  fundamental  law  of  all 
republics — to  create  that  development  of  the  general 
mind  which  constitutes  intelligence,  we  must  teach 
men,  not  merely  the  thoughts  of  others,  but  how  to 
think  themselves ;  and  by  what  means  shall  thinking 
be  taught  ?  Whatever  may  be  the  case  with  the  ac 
quisition  of  mere  facts,  or  the  cultivation  of  taste,  the 
arts,  and  the  imagination,  thinking  can  be  taught 
only  by  something  which  excites  inquiry,  and  still 
leaves  something  to  be  discovered.  Nothing  has  done 


CIVIL  AND   RELIGIOUS  LIBERTY.  33 

this  more  successfully,  either  in  nations  or  individ 
uals,  than  the  study  of  the  great  body  of  natural 
principles  which  constitutes  science ;  and  by  that 
term,  I  mean  no  particular  subject  or  department; 
but  include  as  well  the  analysis  of  language  as  the 
demonstrations  of  mathematics — the  philosophy  of 
history,  as  the  investigation  into  the  powers  and 
structure  of  the  human  mind.  It  teaches  men  to 
think,  by  compelling  them  to  reason ;  and  allures 
them  to  learn,  by  leading  them  from  discovery  to  dis 
covery  ;  as  the  wayfaring  man  is  tempted  to  follow  a 
path  which  opens  upon  new  fruits,  and  soothes  his 
spirits  with  the  strains  of  a  music  before  unheard  by 
mortal  ears.  Science,  considered  merely  as  a  teach 
er  of  the  intellect,  in  this  general  philosophic  sense, 
has  some  advantages  which,  whatever  may  be 
thought  by  the  learned,  are  appreciated  by  the  mass 
neither  in  theory  nor  in  practice ;  and  for  the  want 
of  which,  none  suffer  so  much  as  the  multitude. 
There  is  a  simplicity  and  a  durability  in  exhibiting 
great  elementary  truths  which  pervade  the  whole  sys 
tem  of  nature,  and  are  equally  applicable  to  all  con 
ditions  of  things,  not  possessed  by  the  particular  rules 
formed  from  them  ;  for  a  thousand  rules  may  flowr 
from  one  principle,  and  he  who  learns  one  of  them 
has  only  learned  one  application  of  the  general  truth, 
while  he  who  has  learned  the  principle  may  apply  it 
when  and  how  he  pleases.  It  is  this  mistaking  the 
end  for  the  beginning,  which  has  converted  the  minds 
of  thousands  into  confused  storehouses  of  miscella- 

3 


34  AMERICAN   EDUCATION. 

neous  goods,  where  the  master  knows  neither  name 
nor  place,  and  throws  a  dense  obscurity  over  the 
great  subjects  of  morals  and  politics*  Thus,  he 
who  has  acquired  a  discriminating  idea  of  falsehood, 
will  need  no  metaphysics  to  distinguish  it  in  all  the 
variety  of  phases  it  assumes  among  men.  Thus,  too, 
he  who  has  learned  that  the  principle  of  appropria 
tion  is  universal,  has  learned  something  which  lies  at 
the  foundation  of  property,  and  consequently  of  so 
ciety  and  government.  Thus,  also,  he  who  has 
learned  the  idea  of  the  refrangibility  of  light,  will 
understand  it  wherever  he  sees  it,  whether  exhibited 
in  the  colors  of  the  prism  or  the  beautiful  phenomena 
of  the  rainbow,  the  uses  of  the  telescope  or  the  tran 
quil  image  in  the  water.  And  whenever  he  sees 
these  exhibitions  of  original  truth,  he  will  see  greater 
cause  to  rejoice  in  the  existence  of  that  wise  Provi 
dence  which  has  made  the  elements  of  nature  as 


*  Some  say  this  generalizing,  philosophizing  is  of  no  use;  we 
want  to  learn  practical  every-day  things.  Now  it  is  precisely  be 
cause  general  elementary  principles  are  of  the  greatest  use,  the  most 
practical  of  all  things,  that  they  should  be  learned.  All  the  great 
rules  of  political  economy  are  general,  elementary,  of  every-day  use. 
So,  many  of  the  rules  of  human  life,  as  those  in  the  Book  of  Proverbs, 
are  general  principles,  which,  if  adhered  to,  will  make  men  wise  and 
great.  In  fact,  generalization  is  the  only  means  by  which  we  can 
acquire  or  retain  the  constant  accumulations  of  knowledge  from  age 
to  age.  We  now  learn  and  demonstrate,  in  a  few  hours,  general 
truths  of  Chemistry  and  Natural  Philosophy  which  ages  of  experi 
ment  scarcely  served  to  discover  and  establish. 


CIVIL  AND  RELIGIOUS  LIBERTY.  35 

simple  as  they  are  harmonious — ministering  spirits 
to  the  wants  and  the  pleasures  of  life.* 

*  The  religious  uses  of  natural  science  seem  not  to  have  been  fully 
appreciated  at  all  times.  If  science,  in  all  its  complicated  depart 
ments,  is  that  language  by  which  "  day  unto  day  uttereth  speech,  and 
night  unto  night  showeth  knowledge,"  and  like  the  firmament  has  dis 
played,  step  by  step,  the  glory,  wisdom,  and  mercy  of  our  Almighty 
Father  ;  if  it  be  (as  it  is)  in  perfect  harmony  with  the  scriptural  his 
tory  of  the  world  ;  and  if  it  be  found  to  corroborate,  by  the  testimony 
of  nature  herself,  the  minutest  statements  made  therein,  then  is  it  the 
most  powerful  of  all  testimony  to  the  truth  of  the  Old  Testament, 
which  is  the  ground  of  belief  in  the  New,  Of  the  humility  with  which 
this  subject  should  be  approached,  and  the  little  ground  it  affords  for 
the  presumptuous  boastings  of  human  knowledge,  none  but  the  blind 
to  all  spiritual  influences  can  be  ignorant.  On  this  subject  I  have 
met  with  the  following  extract  from  a  Discourse  by  the  Rev.  Bar 
tholomew  Lloyd,  D.  D.,  Provost  of  Trinity  College,  Dublin  : 

"  What  I  insist  on,  then,  is — that  when  we  seek  God  through  the 
indications  of  his  power  or  his  will,  contained  in  his  word  or  his 
works,  we  should  apply  ourselves  to  the  task  with  patient  self-dis 
trust  and  humble  reverence,  amounting  to  religious  awe.  This  is  the 
frame  of  mind  which  becomes  us  when  we  would  approach  the  Father 
of  Lights  ;  and  I  would  add,  that  this  is  the  frame  of  mind  which  every 
advance  in  the  study  of  his  works  no  less  than  of  his  word  is  fitted 
to  produce.  In  fact,  it  is  only  the  grossly  ignorant  who  is  insensible 
to  his  own  ignorance ;  the  more  extensive  our  knowledge,  the  greater 
the  number  and  the  variety  of  the  subjects  which  present  themselves 
for  further  inquiry.  The  wider  the  sphere  of  illumination,  the  more 
expanded  is  the  surface  which  separates  it  from  the  region  of  dark 
ness  ;  and  the  greater  the  extent  of  our  intellectual  domain,  the  more 
numerous  the  points  in  that  boundary  by  which  we  are  sensibly  con 
fined.  This  growing  sense  of  our  insufficiency  adequately  to  compre 
hend  the  workings  of  Divine  power,  serves  but  to  increase  the  wonder 
excited  by  what  is  already  brought  within  the  compass  of  our  dis 
cernment;  and  whilst  man  is  humbled,  God  is  exalted.  Can  we 


36  AMERICAN  EDUCATION. 

No  better  example  of  the  effect  produced  by  such 
a  mode  of  instruction  can  be  found,  than  in  the  Fa 
thers  of  the  American  republic.  They  were  men 
who,  for  the  most  part,  studied  science  as  I  under 
stand  the  term — a  system  of  principles,  developing 
the  laws  of  moral  and  political,  as  well  as  physical 
existence.  They  were  generally  educated,  sometimes 
learned,  but  always  thinkers.  Consult  their  history, 
follow  them  to  the  councils  of  the  Revolution,  and  go 
to  that  convention  whose  work  is  now  our  noble 
Constitution,  our  study  and  our  glory,  and  you  will 
find  them  taking  lessons  from  the  learning  of  the  past ; 
comparing  results,  adhering  to  recognized  principles, 
and  combining  them  in  forms  applicable  to  their  state 
of  society.  See  Richard  Henry  Lee  scanning  the 
volumes  of  history,  and  gathering  the  principles  of 
government  from  universal  experience  ;*  the  Ad 
amses,  Samuel  and  John,  comparing  the  republics  of 


then  fail  to  acknowledge  with  the  illustrious  Bacon,  the  religious  uses 
of  natural  science,  when  in  that  glowing  language  so  peculiar  to  him 
self  he  thus  expresses  his  convictions:  PhilosopJna  naturalis, post 
verbum  Dei,  ccrtissima  super stitionis  mcdicina  cst ;  eadcmque  probatis- 
simum  Fidci  alimcntum.  Itaque  merito  rcligioni  donatur  tanquam 
Jidissima  ancilla,  cum  altcram  voluntatcm  Dei,  altera  potestatem  tnani- 
festat." 

*  Biography  of  the  Signers  of  the  Declaration  of  Independence, 
vol.  ix.  His  biographer  says  :  "  The  histories  of  the  ancient  republics 
inspired  him  with  a  love  of  liberty,  taught  him  the  fate  of  tyrants, 
and  elated  him  with  hope,  not,  however,  unmingled  with  apprehen 
sion  ;  for  he  saw  them  at  times  tossed  by  the  storms  of  faction,  and 
again  awed  to  the  stillness  of  despotism." 


CIVIL  AMD  RELIGIOUS    LIBERTY.  37 

old,*  and  learning  to  perfect  the  new  government  by 
avoiding  the  defects  of  the  old ;  and  Hamilton,  avail 
ing  himself  of  the  practical  discussions  of  Europe  to 
establish  the  political  economy  of  the  young  republic 
of  America,  f  Was  not  Chancellor  Wythe  a  student 
of  the  classics  and  the  mathematics  ?J  Was  not 
Washington  himself,  practical  as  his  life  was,  always 
a  student,  always  thoughtful,  reflective,  judicious  ?§ 

Science,  as  a  teacher  of  the  intellect,  has  this  in 
vincible  argument — that  it  is,  and  ever  has  been, 
inseparable  from  human  improvement.  It  is  progres 
sive,  and  never  retrogrades.  Aside  from  the  light  of 
Christianity,  in  what  but  this  can  we  boast  of  supe 
riority  over  the  nations  of  antiquity  ?  If  a  defender 
of  ancient  systems  were  to  be  attacked,  simply  on  the 
ground  of  the  arts,  his  position  would  be  impregnable. 
He  would  point,  in  the  cities  of  Europe  and  the  plains 
of  America,  to  architects  building  upon  the  models  of 
the  temple  of  Minerva,  and  the  columns  of  Corinth 
and  Ionia.  He  would  point  to  sculptors  spending 
their  nights  and  days  over  the  Apollo  Belvidere,  sat 
isfied  that  beyond  it  their  genius  could  not  go.  He 
would  show  you  a  poet,  taking  rank  with  the  first  of 


*  John  Adams's  "  Defence  of  the  American  Republic"  is  one  of  the 
most  learned  and  instructive  works  on  the  subject  of  government. 

j-  Hamilton's  "  Report"  is  recognized  as  one  of  the  ablest  works 
extant  on  the  subject  of  finance. 

\  Wythe  was  an  accomplished  scholar.  See  Biography  of  the 
Signers. 

§  See  Sparks's  "  Correspondence  of  Washington." 


38  AMERICAN  EDUCATION. 

his  race  as  the  translator  of  Homer ;  and  he  would 
make  you  feel  at  every  step,  by  the  testimony  of  the 
senses,  that  you  were  following  a  long-discovered  and 
long-beaten  path.  How  different  is  the  aspect  and 
the  progress  of  science !  Has  modern  Europe  added 
nothing  to  the  knowledge  of  Greece ;  or  did  Greece 
add  nothing  to  the  models  of  Egypt  ?  Did  Newton 
make  no  discoveries,  or  add  no  principles  to  former 
systems  ?  Did  Bacon  learn  his  philosophy  from  Aris 
totle  ?  Did  Davy  and  Cuvier  study  chemistry  and 
geology  in  ancient  books  ?  Did  Fulton  build  no  other 
boat  than  those  which  navigated  the  Nile  or  the 
Indus  ?  The  value  of  science  is  embodied  in  the 
history  of  the  human  mind. 

And  why  should  not  science  be  associated  with 
human  happiness  ?  Is  it  not  eternal  truth  ?  the  lens 
through  which  the  light  of  nature  is  converged  upon 
the  intellect  ?  But,  it  will  be  said,  this  is  well;  yet  it 
is  not  for  the  mass  of  the  people;  they  can  never 
learn  science — that  belongs  to  philosophers;  and 
government — that  belongs  to  politicians;  and  reli 
gion — why,  that  belongs  to  the  clergy!  The  million 
have  the  catechism,  and  the  newspaper :  one  teaches 
what  to  believe,  and  the  other  how  to  vote;  and  what 
business  have  they  with  more  knowledge  ? 

The  answer  is  written  in  the  fundamental  law  of 
your  country,  as  it  was  before  in  that  of  heaven; 
both  suppose  man  to  be  an  intelligent  being,  capable 
of  administering  government — the  subject  of  noble 
aspirations  and  of  infinite  improvement.  And  with 


CIVIL  AND  RELIGIOUS  LIBERTY.  39 

this  constitution  of  temporal  and  eternal  freedom 
about  him,  shall  the  laborer  plod  on  unmindful  of  the 
world  of  beauty  and  glory  spread  before  him  ?  Shall 
the  ploughman  turn  up,  day  after  day,  the  flowers  of 
the  field,  listen  to  the  song  of  birds,  gaze  upon  the 
stars  set  in  the  firmament,  and  yet  be  unconscious 
that  all  are  moving  forward  in  ceaseless  progression 
round  the  throne  of  Him  who  formed  them  ?  Shall 
he  hear,  as  confused  sounds  in  his  ears,  of  heroes  and 
patriots,  the  wise  and  good,  who  once  lived  in  this 
land  of  liberty,  and  yet  know  not  who  they  were  or 
what  their  doings  ?  Never  think  that  they  left  an 
example  for  imitation,  as  well  as  principles  to  be  per 
petuated  ?  Shall  he  hear  of  that  revolution  which 
established  the  republic,  which  has  shaken  the  na 
tions,  and  is  felt  by  thrones,  dominions,  principalities, 
and  powers  ;  and  yet  know  nothing  of  the  means  by 
which  it  was  accomplished  ?  Let  him  remain  then 
unconscious  of  the  world  of  light  and  life  around  him ; 
let  him  believe,  that  to  supply  the  necessities  of  life 
is  his  only  business,  while  to  thirst  and  know,  belongs- 
to  philosophers,  statesmen,  theologians  :  let  him  be 
lieve  and  act  thus;  and  can  this  government  be  main 
tained  as  a  government  of  the  people  ?  How  long 
will  this  morning  star  of  nations  continue  to  attract 
and  fix  the  eye  of  faith  ? 

4.  Another  principle  presupposed  in  the  establish 
ment,  and  necessary  to  the  existence  of  our  republic, 
is  public  virtue.  One  of  the  means  necessary  to  per 
petuate  American  liberty,  is  the  adaptation  of  popular 


1 


40  AMERICAN   EDUCATION. 

institutions  to  sustain  the  sentiment  of  public  virtue.  I 
But  what  is  public  virtue  ?     This  word  is  of  uncer 
tain  signification,  according  to  some  authors,  but  is 
employed  by  Montesquieu  as  having  a  precise  bear 
ing.     It  has  a  meaning  easily  understood  in  popular 

language.     A  man  of  public  virtue  is  one  who  loves   i 

the  republic,  and  its  institutions ;  who  obeys  its  laws 
from  a  high  sense  of  duty ;  who  does  nothing  to  im 
pair  its  interests ;  but,  who  acts  for  the  public  interests 
as  if  they  were  his  own.  In  his  case,  the  feeling  of 
patriotism  becomes  a  sense  of  duty ;  and  duty  implies  , 
honorable  and  trustworthy  conduct,  founded  on  moral 
obligation.  Virtue  then  is  a  sentiment,  in  contrast 
with  intelligence,  as  a  result  of  intellectual  investiga 
tion.  To  be  intelligent,  is  not  always  to  be  virtuous  ; 
and  to  think,  is  not  always  to  think  rightly.  Intellect, 
thought,  are  the  foundations  of  power.  Man  holds 
dominion  over  the  creatures  of  the  earth,  as  he  holds 
dominion  over  his  fellow-men,  by  superior  strength 
of  mind.  But  to  acquire  and  enjoy  happiness,  the 
intellect  must  be  used  in  conformity  with  another 
principle,  which  in  popular  language  is  called  virtue. .; 
Men  must  be  virtuous,  as  well  as  intellectual.  And 
the  experience  of  the  whole  human  race  stands 
ready  to  prove  that  this  principle  is  as  applicable  to 
nations  as  to  individuals.  Though  you  should  look 
with  dull  eyes  upon  the  volume  of  nature — though 
you  should  reject  any  demonstration  which  phi 
losophy  could  make — though  you  should  have  the 
hardihood  to  deny  the  Scriptures  of  truth — yet  will 


CIVIL  AND  RELIGIOUS  LIBERTY.  41 

you  read  it  in  the  record  of  those  events  which, 
from  age  to  age,  have  brought  nation  after  nation — 
from  hoary  Egypt,  in  the  depths  of  antiquity,  to  the 
fair  republics  of  modern  Italy — to  the  untimely  grave 
which  their  corruptions  had  prepared.  Does  any  one 
ask,  why  Athens,  or  Sparta,  or  Corinth  could  not 
preserve  a  liberty  which  genius,  art,  song,  and  sci 
ence  had  conspired  to  acquire  ?  Let  him  read  the 
laws  of  Lycurgus  and  of  Solon.  Let  him  dwell,  if 
it  pleases  him,  upon  the  noble,  self-sacrificing  spirit  of 
an  Athenian,  offering  himself  up  for  his  country ;  let 
him  speak  of  the  hardy  virtues  of  frugality,  prudence, 
and  fortitude  :  then  let  him  turn  to  those  other  scenes, 
where  an  American  seeks  his  highest  happiness — the 
altar  and  the  fireside.  Where  was  the  worship  of  the 
heart  in  a  land  over  which  Mars  and  Apollo  held  di 
vided  sway  ?  Where  was  domestic  happiness  in  the 
circle  in  which  woman  was  reduced  to  the  level  of 
the  savage ;  where  conjugal  rights  were  almost  un 
known,  and  licentiousness  scarcely  left  a  seat  at  the 
table  for  the  wives  and  mothers  of  freemen  ?  Where 
was  security  for  property  among  a  people  who  con 
verted  power  into  right  ?  Where  was  the  safety  of 
person,  when  the  definition  of  treason  depended  upon 
the  fancy  of  the  populace ;  and  where  every  man 
was  a  licensed  assassin  of  those  who  opposed  the 
popular  government  ?  And  will  the  inquirer  ask 
again  why  liberty  fell  in  Greece  ?  or  will  he  hope 
to  sustain  the  freedom  of  his  own  country,  without 
the  virtues  which  alone  have  power  to  withstand  the 


42  AMERICAN  EDUCATION. 

mutations  of  time  ?  Nor,  even  under  Christian  in 
stitutions,  is  there  any  example  to  show  that  liberty 
can  be  sustained  without  that  practical  spirit  of  virtue 
which  gives  them  life.  Take  the  commonwealth  of 
England  as  an  example.  The  nation  had  brought 
the  chief  of  the  house  of  Stuart  to  the  scaffold, 
exiled  his  family,  and  levelled  the  nobles  with  the 
people.  They  had  become,  in  principle,  republican. 
The  experiment  could  be  fairly  made — and  why  was 
it  not  ?  Because  the  people  had  lost  the  virtue  which 
commenced  the  revolution  ;  had  fallen  into  indolence 
and  licentiousness  ;  and  from  a  military  dictatorship, 
easily  returned  to  the  ancient  monarchy,  the  reign  of 
unabashed  vice,  and  unawed  tyranny.  From  England 
turn  to  Italy — to  republics  rising  and  falling  with 
every  popular  excitement ;  yet  unstable  as  the  winds, 
because  unsustained  by  nutriment  from  the  soul. 
Behold  freedom  courted  to  dwell  in  the  beautiful  land 
of  the  vine  and  the  olive ;  yet  compelled  at  last  to 
take  refuge  among  the  simple  virtues  which  abide 
with  the  spirit  of  Tell  on  the  mountains  of  Switzer 
land.  In  all  the  past,  whether  we  view  it  in  the 
shades  of  ancient  time,  or  in  the  light  of  modern 
ages ;  whether  seen  from  the  hills  of  Attica,  or  those 
of  the  Tiber ;  whether  where  Venice  looks  out  upon  the 
Adriatic,  or  Andes  frown  upon  the  changing  govern 
ments  of  South  America — liberty,  when  lost,  is  en 
tombed  in  the  grave  of  virtue. 

5.  But  public  virtue,  I  have  said,  is  founded  on  the 


CIVIL  AND  RELIGIOUS  LIBERTY.  43 

sense  of  moral  obligation.  In  every  country  the 
sense  of  moral  obligation  is  founded  in  the  character 
of  its  religion.  The  religion  of  Hindostan  gives 
rise  to  one  form  of  morals  ;  that  of  Persia  to  an 
other;  and  that  of  Europe  to  another.  In  every 
country  the  morals  of  a  people,  whatever  they  may 
be,  take  their  form  and  spirit  from  their  religion.  For 
example,  the  marriage  of  brothers  and  sisters  was  per 
mitted  among  the  Egyptians,  because  such  had  been 
the  precedent  set  by  their  gods,  Iris  and  Osiris.  So, 
too,  the  classic  nations  celebrated  the  drunken  rites 
of  Bacchus.  Thus,  too,  the  Turk  has  become  lazy 
and  inert,  because  dependent  upon  Fate,  as  taught  by 
the  Koran.  And  when  in  recent  times  there  arose  a 
nation,  whose  philosophers  discovered  there  was  no 
God  and  no  religion,  the  nation  was  thrown  into  that 
dismal  case,  in  which  there  was  no  law  and  no  morals. 
The  fool  only  hath  said  in  his  heart,  There  is  no  God. 
In  the  United  States,  Christianity  is  the  original, 
spontaneous,  and  national  religion.  It  is  revealed 
from  heaven,  and  therefore  perfect.  Its  morals  are 
the  morals  of  a  perfect  society,  untouched  and  un 
spoiled  by  the  selfishness  and  tainting  expediencies  of 
worldly  policy.  If  the  virtue  of  the  nation  conform, 
in  any  degree,  then,  to  this  acknowledged  standard, 
it  so  far  approaches  that  elemental  right,  which  is  the 
single  principle  lying  at  the  foundation  of  republics. 
The  fathers  of  the  republic,  our  glorious  ancestry  of 
Pilgrim  memory  and  revolutionary  fame,  acknowl- 


44  AMERICAN   EDUCATION. 

edged  and  worshipped  the  God  of  the  Bible,  who  had 
borne  them  safely  over  the  waves  of  the  ocean  and 
through  the  fires  of  battle.  In  the  forest  sanctuary, 
on  the  blood-red  fields,  in  the  halls  of  solemn  council, 
they  worshipped  and  they  prayed ;  and  their  prayers 
were  heard  in  the  fruits  of  success,  in  the  glory  of 
victory,  in  the  strength  pf  growth,  and  in  the  full 
vision  of  that  Future  which  is  now  rising  full  orbed 
on  the  horizon  of  Time.  If  such  were  their  virtues, 
and  such  their  conduct,  what  was  the  example  left  to 
us  ?  It  is  as  unphilosophical  as  it  is  impossible,  to 
found  morals  in  Christian  countries  upon  any  other 
basis  than  the  Christian  faith.  There  is  no  such  phe 
nomenon  as  a  nation  teaching  one  code  of  religion, 
and  another  code  of  virtues.  What  is  the  fundamen 
tal  principle  of  Christian  ethics  ?  Love,  in  all  its 
relative  forms,  is  the  active  principle  of  Christian 
morals,  as  it  is  the  foundation  of  all  true  civilization. 
And  it  is  such  a  principle  which  forms  the  basis  of 
the  highest  patriotism,  as  it  does  of  the  private  affec 
tions.  It  is  such  a  principle  only,  when  dwelling 
with  a  mind  acquainted  with  its  own  immortal  powers, 
which  can  at  once  refine  manners,  purify  the  heart, 
and  energize  the  understanding.  The  institutions  of 
the  republic  must,  therefore,  conform  to  the  religion 
of  the  people.  In  a  Christian  republic  they  must  be 
Christian.  If  they  be  not,  there  must  arise  that  an 
tagonism  of  which  I  have  already  spoken.  And  if 
there  be,  which  is  likely  to  fall,  the  religion  or  the 
state  ?  Let  history  answer.  No  power  of  the  state 


CIVIL  AND   RELIGIOUS  LIBERTY.  45 

has  yet  been  able  to  martyrize  religion,  whether  true 
or  false,  from  the  minds  of  a  people. 

6.  Another  thing  to  be  noticed  as  necessary  to  the 
perpetuity  of  republics  is  not  so  much  a  principle,  as 
a  tendency,  a  constitutional  tendency,  to  be  cherished 
and  encouraged.  This  is  activity  of  mind.  Accu 
rate  logicians  may  say  this  is  not  an  element  of  itself, 
but  a  mere  result  of  free  society  and  free  govern 
ment.  Be  it  so.  It  is  yet  something  to  be  increased 
or  diminished.  We  can  easily  understand  what  it 
is  when  we  reflect  on  the  intellectual  condition  of 
Greece  or  of  Persia.  It  is  not  easy  to  define  what 
the  American  people  mean  by  "  enterprise/'  But  the 
meaning  is  understood  by  every  one.  It  is  activity 
in  action.  I  mean  by  activity  of  mind  the  same 
thing  when  applied  to  intellectual  processes  and  pro 
ductions.  It  is  that  activity  of  intellect  and  feeling 
which  is  ever  undertaking  new  enterprises  into  the 
world  of  creation  around  it,  whether  it  be  in  matter 
or  in  mind — whether  it  be  the  discovery  of  new  pow 
ers  in  mind  itself,  or  new  conditions  of  the  social 
structure.  Action  is  the  life  of  nations  as  of  persons.— 
Neither  ever  stand  still.  The  course  of  a  republic 
should  be  the  eagle's  flight — upward,  sunward,  still 
seeking  purer  light. 

It  is  activity  of  mind  which  creates  improvement ;  • 
and  it  is  that  we  wish  to  perpetuate — and  not  merely 
columns  of  art,  or  volumes   of  learning,  or  passive 
sentiment.     Original,  vigorous  thought  is  the  sturdy 
oak ;  while   art   and  literature    are   the   flowers   and 


40  AMERICAN  EDUCATION. 

tendrils  under  its  shade.  The  oak  must  shoot  forth 
new  limbs,  grow  green  in  the  free  air,  and  imbibe  the 
vigor  of  the  earth,  before  it  can  protect  the  frail 
plants  beneath.  Neither  art,  nor  taste,  nor  erudition, 
nor  books  have  been  able  to  preserve  any  people.  It 
is  recorded  of  Greece,*  that  learning  was  never  great 
er,  scholiasts  more  numerous,  or  books  more  abun 
dant,  than  when  in  her  declining  years  she  presented 
the  melancholy  spectacle  of  art  surviving  freedom — 
the  perished  tree  made  green  by  the  vine  which  still 
lingered  about  its  branches.  Indeed,  it  is  impossible 
that  either  mere  art  or  mere  erudition,  however  ne 
cessary  to  the  ornaments  of  life  or  the  acquisition  of 
facts,  can  ever  do  much  towards  creating  new  or  im 
proving  old  systems  of  thought  or  of  happiness.  The 
one  derives  its  power  from  the  forms  of  beauty  in  the 


*  In  the  last  chapter  of  Sismondi's  Fall  of  the  Roman  Empire, 
pages  470,  471,  the  reader  will  find  authority  for  what  is  said  in  the 
text.  "  The  degeneracy  of  the  Greeks  took  place  when  they  were  in 
the  midst  of  the  accumulated  treasures  of  knowledge  and  the  enlight 
enment  of  the  world."  Knowledge  without  thinking  is  useless,  and 
thinking  without  knowledge  is  like  a  mechanic  without  tools.  It  re 
mains  yet  to  be  tested  in  the  experiment  made  in  America,  whether 
nations  have  not,  as  well  as  individuals,  the  lassitude  and  decay  of 
declining  age ;  and  whether  the  energy  of  nations  is  not  peculiar  to 
their  youth.  The  glory  of  Greece  was  but  about  300  years  in  dura 
tion  ;  that  of  Rome  somewhat  longer ;  that  of  Egypt  much  longer 
than  either ;  while  that  of  England— counting  from  Alfred— promises 
to  be  of  yet  greater  continuance.  There  seems,  then,  to  be  no  par 
ticular  limit  to  the  life  and  prime  of  nations;  and  we  may  fairly  con 
clude  there  is  none,  but  that  created  by  their  vices. 


CIVIL  AND  RELIGIOUS  LIBERTY.  47 

natural  world,  and  the  other  from  existing  knowledge. 
Both  are  limited.  They  may  form  the  intellect  of  a 
Canova,  or  Parr,  or  Porson ;  but  never  the  minds  of 
Newton,  of  Locke,  of  Milton,  or  of  Washington. 
These  were  made  by  THINKING  ;  not,  indeed,  without 
the  materials  of  knowledge,  but  without  the  vassal 
age  of  opinion,  which  binds  men  to  rules  and  forms. 
And  in  exact  conformity  to  this,  we  find  that  when  a 
people  like  the  Greek,  the  Arabian,  the  Italian  be 
come  commentators,  and  cease  to  cultivate  the  great 
principles  of  science,  or  to  bring  the  great  truths  of 
virtue  round  the  fireside,  indolence  soon  subverts  the 
energies  of  the  soul ;  rule  is  substituted  for  principle, 
the  ordinance  for  the  spirit,  and  art  and  learning 
weave  their  beautiful  woof  round  the  dying  body  of. 
Liberty. 

But  activity  of  mind,  like  strength  to  youth,  is  the.: 
gift  of  young  republics ;  and  must  be,  as  it  ever  has 
been,  kept  up  by  excitement  of  some  kind.  On  the 
early  ages  of  mankind,  as,  indeed,  those  of  the  highest 
refinement  in  modern  days,  war  and  its  conquests 
have  been  the  effects  of  national  ambition. 

The  glory  of  battle,  like  the  blaze  to  the  insect, 
seems  to  have  been  the  brilliant  point  around  which 
the  warrior  energies  of  men  have  gathered  for  de 
struction.  Yet  conquests  are  not  consistent  with  re 
publics.  It  is  contrary  to  their  system.  Macedonia 
could  conquer,  but  Athens  fight  only  in  self-defence. 
Rome  lost  her  liberties  when  she  made  extensive  con 
quests  ;  and,  till  the  late  war  with  Mexico,  it  was  the 


48  AMERICAN  EDUCATION. 

doctrine  of  both  statesmen  and  people  in  the  United 
States,  that  we  should  make  no  conquests.  ]\Tor  is  it 
easy  to  see  how  we  can  make  war  an  object  of  am 
bition,  when,  except  a  few  weak  neighbors,  there  are 
no  nations  on  this  continent  whose  conquest  would 
add  new  lustre  to  the  national  glory.  We  are  al 
ready  an  ocean-bound  republic,  whose  frontier  invites 
no  hostile  attack ;  and  whose  career  must  consist  in 
the  peaceful  pursuits  of  commerce,  in  building  and 
adorning  a  home  for  the  uncounted  millions  of  pos 
terity,  and  in  sending  round  the  earth  the  principles 
of  liberty,  the  charms  of  civilization,  and  the  reviving 
and  invigorating  truths  of  Christianity. 

What  then,  some  may  ask,  shall  employ  that  ac 
tivity  of  mind,  whose  outbreaking  spirit  we  see  in  the 
excitements  of  society  ?  These  excitements  are  but 
the  foam  on  the  tide.  If  men  are  alarmed  by  the 
white  caps  raised  on  the  waves  by  some  stormy  wind, 
would  they  not  have  much  greater  cause  of  alarm  if 
that  stream  sunk  into  a  still  lifeless  pool,  mantled  by 
the  green  and  putrid  form  of  disease  ?  What  is  want 
ing  is  to  convert  this  activity  into  a  blessing  and  not 
a  curse.  The  energies  of  freedom  cannot  be  sup 
pressed.  They  ought  not  to  be,  because  there  would 
no  longer  be  freedom.  The  tree  might  retain  its 
foliage,  but  would  be  stripped  of  iis  fruit. 

What  then  are  the  proper  channels  for  that  intel 
lectual  activity  which  cannot  be  left  to  itself  without 
danger  ?  America,  more  than  any  other  country  ex 
isting,  contains  new  avenues  for  that  ceaseless  exer- 


CIVIL  AND  RELIGIOUS  LIBERTY.  49 

cise  of  mind  and  heart,  without  which  there  is  neither 
energy  nor  progress.  Its  very  social  condition,  the 
first  object  of  inquiry  with  a  foreigner,  and  which 
should  be  the  first  to  engage  the  care  of  its  citizens, 
is  a  problem,  as  new  as  it  is  curious.  The  traveller 
from  other  countries  in  vain  endeavors  to  understand 
or  describe  an  equality,  whose  compatibility  with  the 
existence  of  government  he  cannot  comprehend. 
Our  own  statesmen  sometimes  mistake  its  nature, 
and  are  lost  in  the  results  of  a  principle  whose  opera 
tions  elude  speculation.  The  formation  and  modifi 
cation  of  public  opinion — whether  by  education,  by 
interest,  by  the  press,  or  by  social  assimilation,  in  a 
land  where  public  opinion  governs,  should  be  thor 
oughly  watched  and  investigated.  Subtle  as  the 
water,  the  public  sentiment  of  a  free  people  is  yet 
subject  to  the  laws  of  motion  aiid  attraction ;  and 
these  must  be  well  understood  before  it  can  be  made 
steadily  to  bear  on  great  plans  of  improvement.  The 
general  mind  is  yet  uninformed  on  the  true  relation 
existent  between  law-maker  and  law-subject,  in  a 
nation  where  every  citizen  is  both ;  and  upon  the 
correlative  necessity  of  obeying  as  well  as  enacting 
wise  laws/* 

*  The  laws  are  made  both  practically  and  theoretically  by  the 
whole  people,  in  a  collective  sense.  But  they  are  to  be  obeyed  indi 
vidually.  While  it  is  true  that  an  individual  has  his  share  in  the 
making  of  laws,  it  is  also  true  that  he  must  individually  yield  obe 
dience  to  that  law  which  is  made  by  the  whole,  and  which,  as  an  indi 
vidual,  he  has  no  right  to  repeal.  To  be  a  law-subject  as  well  as  a  law- 

4 


50  AMERICAN   EDUCATION. 

If  we  pass  from  this  subject  to  that  of  moral  truth, 
what  country  upon  earth  ever  presented  a  wider 
range  for  inquiry  !  What  government  ever  before 
admitted  the  principle  of  universal  toleration?  In 
what  other  land  could  it  be  said  that  error  of  opinion 
might  be  safely  tolerated,  while  reason  was  left  free 
to  combat  it?  What  people  are  more  susceptible  of 
moral  impressions  ?  Upon  whom  could  you  have 
greater  hopes  of  fixing  the  abiding  truths  of  time  and 
eternity  ?  That  the  spirit  of  Christian  civilization 
has,  in  fact,  a  deeper  root  in  this  than  in  any  other 
country,  may  safely  be  inferred  from  the  more  ele 
vated  condition  of  women.  The  treatment  of  women 
is  rightly  said  to  be  the  standard  of  civilization. 
Among  barbarians  they  are  slaves ;  in  France  the 
idols  of  pleasure ;  in  Germany  drudges ;  in  England 
the  respected  companions  of  masters ;  in  America 
the  cherished  wives  of  freemen.  Such  is  the  testi 
mony  of  foreigners.*  Nor  does  America  ask  from 

maker,  obedient  as  well  as  sovereign,  is  the  highest  virtue  of  a  repub 
lican  citizen. 

*  All  foreigners  agree  in  the  superior  purity  of  American  women, 
and  the  high  degree  of  respect  paid  them  by  their  countrymen. 
The  following  is  the  remark  of  M.  de  Beaumont,  an  intelligent  French 
traveller.  "  You  may  estimate  the  morality  of  any  population, 
when  you  have  ascertained  that  of  the  women ;  and  one  cannot  con 
template  American  society  without  admiration  for  the  respect  which 
there  encircles  the  ties  of  marriage.  The  same  sentiment  existed  in 
a  like  degree  among  no  nation  of  antiquity ;  and  the  existing  socie 
ties  of  Europe,  in  their  corruption,  have  not  even  a  conception  of  such 
a  purity  of  morals." 


CIVIL  AND  RELIGIOUS  LIBERTY.  51 

their  jealousy  a  higher  or  a  nobler  tribute  to  her  insti 
tutions.  The  same  principles  which  have  produced 
such  a  result  are  ready  to  be  trained  into  other  chan 
nels  of  moral  sentiment ;  and  if  we  do  look  back 
with  something  of  shame  at  the  superior  frugality 
and  temperance  of  ancient  Sparta,  it  is  not  that  we 
value  those  hardy  virtues  less,  but  that  wealth  and 
pleasure  have  tempted  us  more. 

New  materials  for  thought  and  activity  in  the 
paths  of  science — those  regions  of  invention  and  dis 
covery  where  human  power  has  exercised  its  highest 
functions,  and  poured  back  upon  society  its  uncounted 
blessings — where  will  it  find  a  fresher  or  a  wider  field 
than  in  this  new-risen  continent  ?  Indeed,  it  is  obvious 
that  no  country  can  furnish  higher  inducements  in  the 
development  of  its  multiplied  resources  for  the  im 
provement  of  practical  science  ;  and  it  is  equally  ob 
vious  that  here  the  great  improvement  must  be  made 
for  generations  to  come.  The  philosophers  of  Eng 
land  have  distinctly  declared  that  there  the  cultivation 
of  science  is  on  the  decline;*  the  German  mind  is  occu- 


The  same  thing  is  admitted  by  the  London  Quarterly,  in  the  num 
ber  for  April,  1835. 

*  "  Four  English  philosophers,  Sir  Humphry  Davy,  Sir  John  Her- 
schel,  Mr.  Babbage,  and  Sir  David  Brewster,  under  a  deep  concern 
for  the  honor  of  England,  boldly  pointed  out  the  fact  of  the  decline  of 
science  and  the  scientific  arts." — Edinburgh  Review,  January,  1835. 

This  declaration  produced  the  formation  of  the  British  Scientific  As 
sociation,  which  has  held  four  meetings,  and  made  many  reports  on 
the  ^,taie  of  science. 


52  AMERICAN  EDUCATION. 

pied  with  metaphysical  subtleties ;  the  French  have  lost 
the  genius  of  the  Institute ;  and  are,  as,  with  few  ex 
ceptions,  they  have  ever  been,  occupied  upon  the  de 
tails  rather  than  the  foundations  of  knowledge.  It  is  in 
America  that  the  great  additions  to  science  and  social 
improvement  must  be  made.  Nor  are  they,  like  the 
fine  arts,  limited  by  the  forms  of  beauty.  They  are 
not  required  to  imitate  the  models  of  the  past.  That 
knowledge  which  is  based  upon  the  structure  and  uses 
of  the  world  which  infinite  wisdom  created,  and  in 
finite  love  sustains,  cannot  be  exhausted.  It  is  as 
perennial  as  nature  herself;  as  fresh  upon  those  hills 
and  vales,  as  when  blooming  Eden  first  opened  upon 
the  father  of  men,  or  the  shepherd  first  gazed  upon 
the  firmament  from  the  star-lit  plains  of  Chaldea.  So 
wise  is  the  constitution  of  things,  that  curiosity  must 
ever  find  something  ungratified ;  some  secret  unre- 
vealed  in  the  bosom  of  nature ;  some  land  undiscov 
ered  to  the  vision  of  genius.  And  yet  the  conquests 
of  mind  still  go  on;  science  multiplies  herself  at 
each  added  step ;  allures  forward  by  all  the  mystery 
of  the  promised  future,  and  all  the  sublime  of  glory 
possessed.  Her  weapons  are  from  the  armory  of 
heaven  ;  her  dominion  wide  as  the  universe  of  mind. 

Lastly,  there  is  full  employment  for  activity  of 
mind,  in  the  culture  and  practice  of  social  science. 
I  mean  the  discovery  of  the  laws,  and  carrying  into 
effect  the  principles,  which  produce  the  happiness 
and  improvement  of  human  society. 

The  time  is  past,  in  which  intellectual  power  can 


CIVIL  AND  RELIGIOUS  LIBERTY.  53 

seclude  itself  in  monasteries,  or  spend  its  life  in  soli 
tary  studies.  The  light  of  a  thousand  eyes  is  poured 
upon  it  by  the  press,  the  extension  of  social  inter 
course,  and  the  rapidly  increasing  freedom  of  opinion. 
Man  can  no  longer  live  for  himself,  but  is  compelled 
to  make  other  men  his  companions,  and  the  world  his 
theatre.  The  very  principle  announced  by  America, 
that  government  was  constituted  for  the  happiness  of 
all,  was  one  which  pledged  the  energies  of  its  citizens 
to  the  improvement  of  the  human  family.  That  im 
provement — moral,  intellectual,  physical — is  an  object 
of  effort  and  desire,  which  cannot  cease  to  exist, 
while  there  remains  oppression  to  destroy,  knowledge 
to  diffuse,  or  regions  of  possible  attainment  yet  un 
subdued  to  the  dominion  of  mind.  This  is  an  object, 
also,  which  is  constantly  accumulating  power  over 
the  feelings  and  judgments  of  enlightened  nations. 
Already  we  find  it  recognized  in  Europe,  that  a  war 
of  subjugation  will  no  longer  be  tolerated.  The 
piratic  trade  in  slaves  is  outlawed  by  the  most  power 
ful  nations.*  The  ablest  statesmen  frown  upon  the 

*  After  the  abolition  of  the  slave  trade  by  Great  Britain,  she  made 
many  treaties  with  other  nations,  stipulating  for  its  abandonment. 
Among  others  was  Brazil,  where  slavery  was  carried  to  an  extreme 
of  cruelty  and  debasement,  known  to  but  few  countries.  There  it 
ceased  to  be  legal  in  1830.  Notwithstanding  which,  immense  impor 
tations  of  slaves  are  clandestinely  made.  Treaties  containing  the 
game  stipulations  have  been  made  with  Sweden,  Denmark,  and  vari 
ous  other  nations. 

It,  is  to  be  regretted  that  these  measures  have  not  proved  as  effect 
ual  as  was  hoped. 


54  AMERICAN  EDUCATION. 

system  of  privateering.  The  hereditary  peerage  is 
crushed  in  France,  and  crumbling  in  England.  Eng 
land  herself  is  carrying  our  common  language  to  the 
dwellers  on  the  Ganges,  the  Indus,  and  the  Niger. 
Colleges  and  schools  in  distant  India  teach  the  learn 
ing  and  the  science  of  our  common  race.  The 
castes  of  Brahma  tremble  at  their  touch;  and  the 
lofty  Mandarin  of  the  Celestial  empire  wonders  and 
fears,  as  truth  approaches  his  shore.  Our  own  re 
public  is  founding  in  Africa  new  republics  from  that 
exiled  race,  who  have  returned  to  renew  in  glory  the 
country  which  they  left  in  gloom. 

In  all  civilized  countries  a  practical  freedom,  in 
accordance  with  the  ameliorating  spirit  of  Christian 
ity,  is  abroad  upon  the  earth.  It  must  be  instructed 
and  enlightened,  but  cannot  be  successfully  opposed. 
By  mother,  by  school,  and  by  college,  in  the  popu 
lar  assembly,  in  the  press,  and  in  the  pulpit,  the  active 
energies  of  mind  and  heart  must  be  trained  in  every 
sound  principle  and  perfect  law.  Whatever  may  be 
thought  by  timid,  or  even  philosophical  persons,  of 
the  present  tendencies  of  the  human  mind,  it  must 
be  admitted,  as  a  fact,  that  the  masses  of  mankind 
have,  in  Christian  countries,  been  awakened  to  the 
past  degradation  of  their  condition,  and  are  looking 
restlessly  and  anxiously  for  a  new  order  of  things. 
Nor  can  any  candid  person  read  the  ancient  prophets 
of  Judea,  announcing  a  future  of  life,  light,  and  know 
ledge,  in  the  glowing  poetry  of  Oriental  language, 
without  admitting  that  this  condition  of  things  is,  in 


THE  IDEA  OF  AN  AMERICAN  EDUCATION.  55 

part  at  least,  a  realization  of  that  magnificent  vis 
ion! 

The1  people  have  harnessed  themselves  to  the  char 
iot  of  knowledge ;  and  though  the  weight  of  long 
ages  of  darkness  rest  upon  it ;  though  clouds  and 
shadows  still  throng  its  path ;  though  error  and 
fanaticism  cling  to  its  wheels ;  it  rolls  on,  and  must 
forever  roll,  till  the  last  system  of  oppression,  of 
ignorance,  and  of  false  belief,  shall  have  crumbled 
into  the  dust  and  ashes  of  the  tomb. 


CHAPTER    III. 

• 

THE  IDEA  OF  AN  AMERICAN  EDUCATION. 

"  To  develop  in  each  individual  all  the  perfection  of  which  he  is  susceptible, 
is  the  object  of  education."— Kant. 

IT  cannot  fairly  be  denied  that  the  greater  number 
of  those  who  have  written  and  spoken  upon  educa 
tion  have  taken  far  t$o  limited  and  narrow  views  of 
that  most  important  subject.  They  have  often  spo 
ken  well  and  forcibly  in  regard  to  the  particular 
branches  of  the  general  toj^which  they  have  con 
sidered  ;  but  how  few  have  written  in  regard  to  the 
ultimate  object,  and  the  whole  measure  of  means  by 
which  it  can  be  attained !  What  is  the  ultimate 
object  ?  No  less  than  to  develop  all  the  faculties  of 
the  human  soul  to  the  utmost  extent  of  which  they 


56  AMERICAN   EDUCATION. 

are  susceptible  in  this  temporal  life  and  condition. 
This  is  a  sublime  object ;  but  not  more  sublime  than 
practical,  if  the  human  will  interpose  no  obstacles  to 
the  completion  of  the  enterprise.  I  readily  grant 
that  it  is  neither  possible  nor  desirable  to  raise  the 
intellectual  standard  of  every  man  to  the  same  ele 
vation  with  that  of  some  one  individual  who  may  be 
a  model  of  eminent  genius  and  high  attainments ;  but 
we  should  never  forget  that  the  greatest  and  bright 
est  of  the  human  race  are  but  examples  of  what  the 
human  faculties  are  capable  of  attaining.  And  who 
can  truly  say  that  he  knows  the  human  spirit  can  nev 
er  soar  higher  than  even  the  greatest  and  brightest 
have  done  ?  Who  can  say  that  he  knows  philosophy 
will  never  be  adorned  by  a  brighter  than  Bacon  ;  or 
astronomy  advanced  by  a  nobler  than  Newton  ?  Has 
he  ever  heard  of  a  divine  decree,  that  he  who  was 
made  in  the  likeness  of  God  is  limited  by  the  earth 
en  barriers  which  confine  the  body  ?  Has  any  one 
taken  measure  of  the  elasticity  and  velocity  of  the 
soul  ?  does  he  know  where  it  must  cease  to  inquire, 
and  when  it  must  cease  to  soar  ?  If  we  know  not 
these  limits,  then  neither  do  we  know  that  the  high 
est  attainments  of  human  knowledge,  and  the  sublim- 
est  pursuits  of  science^fcay  not  become  the  common 
possessions  of  the  cornmon  people.  We  know  that 
one  star  differeth  from  another  star  in  magnitude  ; 
but  we  also  know  that  every  star  shineth  with  a  con 
tinual  efflux  of  light — flowing1  perpetually  through  the 
visible  creation. 


THE   IDEA   OF   AN   AMERICAN   EDUCATION.  57 

The  idea  of  education  then,  in  its  absolute,  ulti 
mate,  and  universal  sense,  is  that  of  a  perpetually 
growing  and  never-exhausted  growth  of  the  humane- 
soul.  In  the  language  I  have  quoted,  it  is  "  to  devel 
op  in  each  individual  all  the  perfection  of  which  he 
is  susceptible."  This,  too,  corresponds  with  the  origi 
nal  meaning  of  the  word,  as  derived  from  educere, 
to  lead,  or  draw  forth  the  mind,  passions,  and  affec 
tions.  In  this  sense,  not  merely  the  school,  but  all 
that  meets  the  soul  of  man  in  its  passage  through 
time,  become  its  educators.  Every  sense  draws  in 
knowledge,  and  every  faculty  goes  forth  to  meet  the 
elements  of  nature  :  history  repeats  the  lessons  of  ex 
perience  ;  the  world  fascinates  with  the  delusions  of 
pleasure ;  the  church  calls  to  the  performance  of 
duty;  and  the  state  invites  to  share  in  the  glories 
of  ambition.  Whatever  there  is  in  life  to  draw 
forth  its  emotions,  to  dazzle  its  imagination,  to  excite 
its  inquiry,  to  induce  reflection,  to  impel  it  forward, 
or  to  delay  its  career — all  these  things  enter  into  that 
aggregate  of  results  which  is  called  education  ;  all 
have  been  ministering  spirits — whether  of  good  or 
evil — to  this  wondering  soul,  striving  continually  to 
gather  up  something  of  its  original  inheritance. 

In  a  practical  view  of  education,  however,  we 
must  confine  ourselves  to  narrower  limits  ;  we  must 
take  for  education  what  is  commonly  meant  by  in 
struction — the  work  of  teachers.  In  this  sense,  how 
ever,  there  are  general  and  universal  principles  to  be 
applied  in  the  adaptation  of  this  instruction  to  the 


58  AMERICAN   EDUCATION. 

ends  in  view.  If  we  were,  for  example,  to  adapt  a 
system  of  instruction  (and  had  the  power  to  do  it) 
to  the  people  of  the  United  States  which  was  adop 
ted  and  has  for  ages  been  employed  to  teach  the  re 
ligious  ideas  of  Brahminism,  and  the  despotic  power 
of  princes  in  India,  it  would  be  impossible  to  preserve 
the  republic.  There  is  an  absolute,  positive  antago 
nism  between  such  a  course  of  instruction  as  that  and 
the  existence  of  free  institutions.  So,  also,  if  we 
could  teach  the  great  body  of  the  children  of  India 
the  doctrines  of  Christianity  and  the  operation  and 
effect  of  republican  laws,  it  would  be  utterly  impos 
sible  for  India  to  remain  in  its  present  condition. 
Hence  we  must  adapt  instruction  to  the  means  we 
I  have  and  the  object  in  view.  We  wish  to  perpetu 
ate  the  institutions  of  the  republic,  because  we  be 
lieve  them  wise,  beneficial,  and  well  calculated  to 
produce  public  prosperity  :  hence  we  must  adapt  in 
struction  to  that  object.  In  the  preceding  chapter  I 
have  discussed  the  general  principles  of  perpetuating 
civil  and  religious  liberty.  It  now  remains  to  apply 
those  principles. 

1 .  The  education  of  a  free  people  must  correspond 
to  the  necessities  of  freedom,  in  regard  to  intelligence, 
public  virtue,  activity  of  mind,  general  growth,  and 
Christian  progress. 

2.  In  order  to  attain   these  results,  those   studies 
should  be  principally  regarded  which  tend  to  instruct 
the  mind  in  the  structure  and  operation  of  republican 
government;  in  the  principles  and  value  of  science; 


THE  IDEA  OF  AN  AMERICAN  EDUCATION.  /'  59 

in  history  and  social  science  ;  in  eloquence,  or  the 
art  of  talking;  in  the  moral  capacity  and  spiritual 
destiny  of  man  ;  in  the  coequal  value,  responsibili 
ties,  and  destiny  of  woman ;  in  the  education  of 
mothers ;  in  the  Bible,  as  the  charter  derived  from 
Heaven ;  and,  finally,  in  whatever  shall  make  man  a 
thinking,  spiritual,  active,  responsible  agent.  Such 
he  must  be  before  this  world  can  realize,  even  in  a 
small  measure,  those  beautiful  and  exquisite  pictures 
of  a  renovated  earth,  so  forcibly  depicted  by  the  holy 
prophets. 

3.  American  education,  in  order  to  attain  the  per 
fection  of  society  and  perpetuate  the  institutions  of 
freedom,  must  adopt  these  general  principles  in  prac 
tice  ;  and  also  adapt  itself  to  whatever  is  peculiar  in 
America,  peculiar  in  Christian  civilization,  and  pecu 
liar  in  the  laws  of  social  progress,  as  developed  in 
history. 

The  idea_  of  American  education,  then,  is  of  an 
education,  in  fact  and  theory,  in  conformity  with  the 
idea  of  a  complete  republic ;  in  conformity  with  the 
idea  of  a  Christian  republic ;  and  in  conformity  with 
the  idea  of  both  a  physical  and  spiritual  development 
of  all  the  faculties  in  each  individual.  It  is  not  ne 
cessary,  in  order  to  attempt  this,  that  we  should 
assume  the  perfection  of  any  such  system,  or  of  soci 
ety  itself,  at  present.  It  is  only  necessary  to  place 
before  us  such  an  IDEAL  of  what  education  ought  to 
be,  in  order  to  stimulate  zeal,  excite  ambition,  and 
energize  effort.  It  is  impossible  for  an  individual  01 


60  AMERICAN  EDUCATION. 

society  ever  to  improve,  without  placing  before  it  the 
ideal  beauty  of  something  better  than  exists,  or  has 
existed,  in  our  experience.  It  is  thus  that  scripture 
continually  places  before  us,  for  imitation,  the  char 
acter  of  God,  the  beauty  of  excellence,'  and  the  love 
liness  of  a  holy  society ;  and  is  it  not  certain  that  he 
who  strives  to  form  himself  upon  such  models  will 
attain  a  purer  and  a  higher  character,  than  he  who 
shall  confine  himself  to  any  standard  of  character  yet 
attained  among  even  the  brightest  of  men  ?  Ameri 
can  education  must  ever  keep  in  sight  the  fact  that 
it  is  not  the  most  glorious  nation  of  antiquity,  nor  the 
greatest  of  modern  days,  that  we  are  to  imitate ;  but 
ithat,  on  the  contrary,  there  is  no  model  for  us.  We 
are  to  be  ourselves  a  model :  we  are  a  model.  If 
America  has  presented  any  thing  new  to  the  world, 
it  is  a  new  form  of  society ;  if  she  has  any  thing  wor 
thy  to  preserve,  it  is  the  principles  upon  which  that 
'society  is  instituted :  hence  it  is  not  a  Grecian  or  a 
Roman  education  we  need — it  is  not  one  conceived 
in  China,  Persia,  or  France.  On  the  contrary,  it 
must  have  all  the  characteristics  of  the  American 
mind,  fresh,  original,  vigorous,  enterprising ;  embar 
rassed  by  no  artificial  barriers,  and  looking  to  a  final 
conquest  over  the  last  obstacles  to  the  progress  of 
human  improvement. 

The  organization  of  the  business  of  education  con 
cerns  chiefly  three  things:  1st,  The  teacher,  and  his 
qualifications ;  2d,  The  process  of  instruction  ;  and 
3d,  Knowledge  and  its  classification. 


THE  IDEA    OF  AN  AMERICAN  EDUCATION.  61 

The  first  two,  the  teacher  and  his  method  of  teach 
ing,  are  intimately  connected  ;  for  whatever  the  mind 
of  the  teacher  is,  that  he  will,  as  far  as  depends  on 
human  power,  impress  upon  what  he  does  and  upon 
those  he  instructs.  The  power  of  mind  upon  mind, 
in  this  respect,  is  most  wonderful.  Could  the  whole 
truth  on  this  subject  be  known,  we  should  be  more 
careful  in  selecting  teachers  than  in  making  laws. 
So  far  as  biography  and  history  give  us  an  insight 
into  the  effects  of  education  upon  mind,  there  is 
scarcely  a  single  example  of  a  really  great  mind 
whose  early  bent  or  impressions  have  not  been  de 
rived  from  a  mother  or  teacher  remarkable  for  the 
strength  or  brilliance  of  their  own  minds.  If,  then, 
\  we  could  secure  the  thorough  education  of  mothers 
and  teachers,  we  should  secure  the  best  education  of 
society.  In  the  following  chapters  I  have  considered 
first  the  teacher  and  his  qualifications,  for  in  them  are 
laid  the  foundations  of  all  education. 

Knowledge  and  its  classification  constitute  the 
subject  of  teaching;  and  its  special  topics  must  be 
chosen  and  emphasized  (more  or  less)  according  to 
the  principles  I  have  already  indicated.  They  must 
conform  to  the  organization,  the  civilization,  and  the 
religion  of  the  nation,  if,  as  I  suppose,  the  object  is  to 
perpetuate  the  institutions  already  existing,  or  to  im 
prove  them,  if  the  primary  ideas  of  those  institutions 
are  correct. 

At  the  foundations  of  this  knowledge,  in  regard  to 
the  republic  of  the  United  States,  lie  these  ideas  : 


62  AMERICAN  EDUCATION. 

1.  The  idea  of  its  government,  contained  in  the 
Constitution. 

2.  The  idea  of  modern  science,  as  developed  in 
modern  civilization. 

3.  The  idea  of  Christianity,  contained  in  the  Bible. 
These  are  the  elements  peculiar  to  our  nation  and 

times  ;  and  while  they  are  by  no  means  all  the  topics 
which  enter  into  a  complete  system  of  instruction, 
they  are  those  which  require  an  emphasis  in  America. 
One  who  reads  and  reflects  will  see  that  they  hardly 
touch  upon  what  were  the  great  staples  of  ancient 
instruction.  Metaphysical  philosophy,  which  was 
then  discussed  among  all  classes  of  people,  scarcely 
enters  into  the  above  account  except  as  a  systema 
tized  branch  of  modern  science ;  but  does  it  follow 
that  we  shall  be  deficient  in  that  branch  of  phi 
losophy  ?  Not  at  all ;  for  a  free  country  is  the  very 
cradle  of  metaphysical  discussion.  At  this  moment 
there  is  hardly  a  political  question  in  the  nation 
which  does  not  involve  metaphysical  arguments ; 
but  yet  more  has  Christianity  rendered  that  instruc 
tion  unnecessary,  by  defining  all  that  it  was  necessary 
to  define,  and  leaving  to  human  reason  all  that  can 
fairly  be  deduced  from  revealed  facts. 

In  this  volume  I  have  confined  myself  chiefly  to 
those  subjects  which  belong  to  the  idea  of  an  Ameri 
can  education,  as  it  has  been  here  described. 


THE  TEACHER.  63 


CHAPTER  IV. 

THE  TEACHER HIS  QUALIFICATIONS,  HIS  TEACHING,  AND  HIS 

CHARACTER. 

"  It  requires  great  wisdom  and  industry  to  advance  a  considerable  estate,  much 
art  and  contrivance  and  pains  to  raise  a  great  and  regular  building ;  but  the  great 
est  and  noblest  work  in  the  world,  and  an  effect  of  the  greatest  prudence  and  care, 
is  to  rear  and  build  up  a  man,  and  to  form  and  fashion  him  to  piety,  and  justice, 
and  temperance,  and  all  kind  of  honest  and  worthy  actions."—  Tillotson. 

Who  is  the  teacher  said  to  be  abroad  upon  the 
earth, — once  the  subject  of  inspiration — now  of  leg 
islation, — seeking  to  mingle  with  statesmen  in  the 
government  of  men  ?  What  are  his  limits  ?  In 
vain  I  seek  to  confine  him.  It  seems  to  me  that 
earth  has  no  prison-house  for  him.  His  limits  are 
the  boundaries  of  mind  itself.  For  into  what  circle 
of  the  arts  does  he  not  enter  ?  Over  what  secret 
emotions  of  the  soul  has  he  not  control?  What 
field  in  the  wide  domain  of  knowledge  does  he  not 
penetrate  ?  Into  what  lonely  nook  of  society  does 
he  send  no  influence  ? 

Though  the  business  of  teaching  (considered  in  its 
absolute  sense)  may  be  as  wide  and  as  durable  as  the 
universe  of  intelligent  beings,  yet  we  may  study  and 
deduce  the  laws  of  right  instruction,  from  our  know 
ledge  of  the  laws  of  mind,  and  its  operation  in  socie 
ty.  The  philosopher  in  vain  attempts  to  trace  the 


G4  AMERICAN   EDUCATION. 

rays  of  light  through  the  pathless  heavens  as  they 
fall  in  succession  on  each  object  of  creation  ;  but  he 
can  analyze  and  comprehend  its  principles.  It  is  the 
light  of  knowledge  upon  which  we  speak,  and  the 
laws  of  instruction  we  would  investigate. 

The  term  teacher  is  generic,  signifying  one  who 
conveys  knowledge,  informs,  instructs.  There  are 
certain  general  characteristics  which  belong  to  all 
good  teachers,  and  these  are  the  characteristics  upon 
which  I  now  propose  to  dwell. 

The  qualifications  of  teachers  relate  chiefly,  I 
think,  to  three  different  topics  ;  and  may  be  stated 
thus : — 

1.  Their  qualifications,  in  reference  to  the  subject- 
matter  taught. 

2.  In  reference  to  the  mode  of  teaching. 

3.  In  reference  to  personal  character. 

Under  these  three  heads  I  shall  endeavor  to  bring 
most  of  those  qualities,  natural  and  acquired,  which 
are  peculiar  to  the  profession  of  teaching. 

THE  TEACHER  AND  SUBJECT-MATTER. 

The  qualifications  of  a  teacher,  in  reference  to  the 
subject-matter  of  his  teaching. 

To  be  a  teacher  at  all,  supposes  a  knowledge  of 
the  subject  taught ;  and  to  be  a  good  teacher,  that 
knowledge  perfect,  —  limited  only  by  the  existing 
boundaries  of  human  science,  in  that  department. 
This  then  is  fundamental  in  the  qualifications  of  a 


THE  TEACHER.  65 

teacher.  But  what  sort  of  knowledge  upon  any 
given  subject,  should  the  teacher  possess  ?  For  it 
is  obvious,  there  are  various  kinds  of  knowledge  of 
the  same  thing.  Nothing  is  more  common  than  to 
find  an  artist  who  does  not  understand  the  principles 
of  his  art ;  or  a  man  of  science  who  knows  little  of 
its  applications ;  or  a  man  of  education  who  can 
enunciate  a  proposition,  and  point  out  its  uses,  but 
who  knows  nothing  of  either  the  principle  or  the 
art.  Yet  it  will  be  conceded  that  neither  of  these 
constitutes  the  proper  kind  of  knowledge  for  a  teach 
er.  In  what  then  does  it  consist  ?  Is  it  an  acquaint 
ance  with  the  best  text-book  of  the  best  author  ?  Is 
it  a  familiarity  with  the  various  rules  constructed  to 
facilitate  the  applications  of  science  ?  Is  it  any  form 
of  words  ?  or  is  it,  rather,  a  conscious  understanding, 
not  only  of  all  the  facts  of  the  subject,  but  of  all  the 
relations,  whether  of  cause  or  effect,  which  they  bear 
to  each  other  ?  The  latter  is  the  proposition  I  main 
tain.  For  what  is  the  business  of  a  teacher  ?  He  is 
neither  a  manipulator  in  the  laboratory  of  arts,  nor 
yet  an  eccentric  philosopher,  seeking  new  discoveries 
in  the  region  of  speculation.  His  position  is  strictly 
that  of  a  conveyer  of  knowledge — moral  and  intel 
lectual — to  a  yet  unoccupied  and  growing  mind. 
To  do  this  successfully,  requires  that  his  instruction 
should  carry  to  that  waiting  mind  a  conviction  of 
its  truth,  and  that  he  should  also  connect  that  truth 
with  the  duties  of  life. 

Now  to  convince  of  truth,  in  matters  of  human 
5 


66  AMERICAN  EDUCATION. 

learning,  requires  reasoning ;  and  to  reason  upon  a 
subject,  requires  that  the  instructor  should  understand 
what  is  called  in  science  .its  rationale,  as  well  as  its 
facts.  And  this  is  not  only  an  a  priori  deduction  of 
theory,  but  a  manifest  indication  of  nature  ;  for  what 
is  the  first  question  of  every  inquisitive  pupil,  young 
oi\old,  in  school  or  out  of  school,  to  the  enunciation 
of  a  new  fact,  but — why  ?  as  if  men  were  taught  by 
instinct  itself  that  the  pathway  of  mind  is  to  ascend, 
by  the  golden  chain  of  cause  and  effect,  to  the  source 
of  immortal  light.  If  this  question,  thus  naturally  put, 
be  not  properly  answered,  it  implies  the  ignorance  of 
the  teacher,  and  leaves  the  truth  doubtful.  We  are 
told  to  give  a  "  reason  for  the  faith  that  is  in  us ;" 
and  he  must  be  a  poor  teacher  of  human  knowledge 
who*  cannot.  Again,  this  rationale  of  which  we 
speak  is  nothing  more  nor  less  than  a  thorough  anal 
ysis  of  the  subject  taught.  Whoever  teaches,  must 
analyze.  He  must  not  merely  say  that  he  has  a  ma 
chine,  which  will  perform  this  and  that  thing,  and 
that  his  pupil,  by  turning  certain  screws,  will  inevi 
tably  obtain  certain  results  ;  but  he  must  take  that 
machine  to  pieces — must  count  every  cog,  and  cal 
culate  the  movement  of  every  wheel ;  for  the  works 
of  nature  are  but  a  series  of  contrivances,  and  science 
is  but  a  development  of  those  contrivances  ;  and  mind 
is  so  constructed  as  never  to  be  satisfied  with  the  an 
nouncement  of  a  problem,  without  seeking  its  solution. 
Nor  is  this  true  of  science,  so  called,  only,  but  ot 
every  thing  which  embodies  thought  or  speech.  This 


THE  TEACHER.  67 

living  language  with  which  I  now  write ;  those  an 
cient  classics,  dead  types  of  the  glorious  past ;  that 
brilliant  literature,  now  coming  with  softened  tones 
through  the  depths  of  time,  now  shooting  up  fresh 
verdure  under  our  feet ; — all  are  but  the  interpreters 
of  thoughts  and  emotions  ;  and  thoughts  and  emotions 
have  their  being  in  things,  and  it  is  by  reasoning 
upon  things  only  they  can  be  explained. 

Thus,  he  who  would  teach  grammar  understand- 
ingly,  would  not  surely  content  himself  with  an 
nouncing  the  parts  of  speech ;  that  every  verb  must 
have  a  nominative,  and  that  an  adjective  must  agree 
with  its  substantive,  and  thus  on.  In  this  discon 
nected  state  it  would  be  as  arbitrary  and  as  unin- 
structive  as  the  decrees  of  an  autocrat :  taught, 
however,  as  what  it  is,  the  strict  translation  of  acts 
and  things  into  words,  it  becomes  a  complete  system 
of  philosophy,  whose  progress  in  any  given  language 
is  the  very  history  of  its  literature.* 

And  this  is  the  distinction  between  the  kind  of 
knowledge  on  the  same  subject  which  a  teacher  must 
possess,  and  that  which  is  necessary  to  the  common 


*  The  "  Hermes,"  or  Universal  Grammar,  by  Mr.  Harris,  and  the 
"  Diversions  of  Purley,"  by  Home  Tooke,  are  beautiful  treatises  on  the 
philosophy  of  grammar :  it  would  be  well  if  they  were  more  read. 
Tn  reference  to  the  necessity  of  reasoning  from  effects  to  cause,  Mr. 
Harris  makes  this  observation:  "Those  things  which  are  first  to  na 
ture,  are  not  first  to  man.  Nature  begins  from  causes,  and  thence 
descends  to  effects;  human  perceptions  first  open  upon  effects,  and 
thence  by  slow  degrees  ascend  to  causes" 


68  AMERICAN   EDUCATION. 

business  of  the  world.  He  must  be  master  of  its 
analysis,  that  he  may  explain  the  reason,  the  use, 
and  the  connection  of  every  part ;  while  the  mass  of 
men  are  but  operatives,  who  are  to  perform  but  one 
function  in  a  complicated  system  :  it  is  the  difference 
between  the  soldier  and  the  general.  And  while  I 
admit  the  painful  fact  that  the  larger  portion  of  his 
pupils  may  never  seek  or  need  the  knowledge  he 
possesses,  I  still  would  not  abate  one  whit  of  his 
responsibility.  The  million  may,  if  they  please,  re 
main  the  victims  of  pretenders  in  science,  of  sciolists 
in  literature,  and  of  demagogues  in  politics ;  but  the 
teacher  must  understand  for  himself.  I  will  not  re 
quire  every  passenger  in  a  steamboat  to  understand 
the  machinery  ;  but  the  engineer  I  will,  for  the  safety 
of  the  whole  depends  upon  it.  And  though  the  teach 
er  may  find  the  mass  of  his  pupils  slow  to  apprehend 
and  of  humble  destiny,  yet  every  school  contains 
some  inquiring  minds  of  more  spiritual  mould,  whom 
it  will  require  all  his  powers  of  thought  and  Jistruc- 
tion  to  accompany  in  their  ascending  flight.  It  is 
not  the  village  church-yard,  but  the  village  school- 
house,  which  contains 

"  Hearts  pregnant  with  celestial  fire ; 
Hands  that  the  rod  of  empire  might  have  sway'd, 
Or  waked  to  ecstasy  the  living  lyre. 
But  knowledge  to  their  eyes  her  ample  page, 
Rich  with  the  spoils  of  time,  did  ne'er  unroll." 

T  have  given  this  view  of  the  kind  of  knowledge 
which  the  teacher  should  possess  in  relation  to  the 


THE  TEACHER.  69 

subject-matter  of  his  teaching,  because  it  seems  to 
rne  the  prevailing  error  of  teachers  is  not  to  have  that 
kind  of  knowledge.  Many  respectable,  and  in  most 
respects  well-educated  teachers,  will  perform  any 
problem,  and  enunciate  any  rule  upon  the  subject 
under  examination,  and  yet  be  completely  nonplused 
in  any  attempt  to  explain  what  they  have  done,  or 
analyze  the  principles  upon  which  it  is  performed. 
Nor  is  this,  in  my  opinion,  confined  to  any  class  of 
teachers ;  but  is  a  defect  in  some  measure  common 
to  the  majority,  from  the  village  school  to  the  lofty 
university.  The  American  mind,  like  that  of  its 
English  ancestors,  is  more  deductive  than  analytical. 
Nor  would  I  have  it  otherwise ;  for  it  is  the  most 
useful,  and,  provided  always  there  are  philosophers 
enough  in  the  world  to  do  the  reasoning  and  to  make 
the  rules,  the  most  productive.  It  is  a  working  and 
a  thinking  mind,  too  ;  but  it  works  and  thinks  towards 
results,  rather  than  causes. 

The  proposition  I  maintain  is,  that  the  position  of 
a  teacher  is  one  which  requires  the  constant  analysis 
of  the  subject  of  his  teaching ;  and  that  to  do  this,  he 
must  understand  not  merely  its  results,  but  all  the 
connections,  dependencies,  and  relations  by  which 
those  results  are  obtained. 

Besides  this  particular  knowledge  of  the  subject 
taught,  there  are  two  species  of  general  knowledge, 
derived  from  reading  and  observation,  which  I  believe 
to  be  of  peculiar  use  to  the  teacher.  I  mean  the 


70  AMERICAN  EDUCATION. 

philosophy  of  history,  on  the  one  hand,  and  the  phe 
nomena  of  the  human  mind,  on  the  other.* 

In  relation  to  the  former  it  may  be  said,  in  general 
terms,  there  can  be  no  mode  of  ascertaining  the  prin 
ciples  and  course  of  human  conduct,  under  any  given 
circumstances,  so  certain  as  by  referring  to  the  open 
volume  of  recorded  experience ;  for  it  contains  the 
long  series  of  experiments  upon  which  the  science  of 
human  nature  is  based — a  science,  like  that  of  chem 
istry,  wholly  experimental.  When  the  wisest  of 
teachers  said,  "  there  is  nothing  new  under  the  sun," 
he  referred,  as  the  context  shows,  to  the  inevitable 
results  of  those  few  original  principles  which,  like 
gravitation  or  evaporation,  are  immutable  in  their 
tendencies ;  but  not  to  the  ever-increasing  and  mul 
tiplied  combinations  of  those  principles,  as  various  as 


*  In  reference  to  the  study  of  the  political  sciences,  the  social 
sciences,  and  history,  Sismondi,  in  his  Fall  of  the  Roman  Empire, 
remarks :  "  But  even  were  the  study  of  the  moral  and  political  sci 
ences  utterly  prohibited,  their  practice  could  not  be  suspended  for  a 
single  moment.  There  are  nations  in  which  the  theory  of  government 
has  never  formed  a  subject  of  reflection  or  of  discussion ;  but  have 
they  therefore  found  it  possible  to  dispense  with  all  government? 
No ;  they  have  adopted  at  random  some  one  of  the  systems  which 
they  ought  to  have  chosen  after  mature  deliberation.  Whether  in 
Morocco  or  in  Athens,  in  Venice  or  in  Uri,  at  Constantinople  or  at 
London,  men  have  doubtless  always  desired  that  their  governments 
should  facilitate  their  way  to  virtue  and  happiness.  All  have  the 
same  end  in  view  :  must  they  act  without  regard  to  this  end  ?  must 
they  walk  without  endeavoring  to  ascertain  whether  they  advance  or 
recede  ?" — Sismondi 's  Fall,  chap.  i. 


THE  TEACHER.  71 

those  of  motion  and  of  light,  which  make  up  the  forms 
and  movements  of  civilized  society.  These  are  the 
study  of  the  historian,  and  should  ever  be  consulted, 
as  we  refer  to  the  history  of  our  own  lives,  to  gather 
wisdom  from  the  experience  of  the  past.  But  there 
is  a  reason  why  this  is  peculiarly  fit  for  the  instruc 
tion  of  the  teacher :  he,  of  all  men  living,  needs  the 
means  of  constant  illustration ;  he  wants  some  com 
mon  ground  for  himself  his  pupils,  and  the  subject  he 
teaches  ;  and,  like  a  lexicographer  in  search  of  a 
definition,  is  compelled  to  seek  words  and  figures 
which  the  most  ignorant  may  comprehend,  and  he 
will  be  most  apf  to  find  them  in  the  common  treasury 
of  human  action.  A  child  cannot  read  the  simplest 
lesson  without  reference  to  men  and  things  which 
have  figured  in  the  past ;  and  to  his  question  of  who 
is  this,  and  what  is  that,  the  teacher  should  return  an 
answer  at  once  full  and  correct. 

Again :  I  ask  any  practical  teacher  or  observer  of 
life,  if  there  be  any  truth  in  the  art  of  teaching 
plainer,  than  that  the  elementary  process  of  reading 
is  never  taught  well  by  one  who  does  not  himself 
thoroughly  understand  the  subject  read  about  ? 

But  if  this  faculty  of  illustration  given  by  history 
be  true  of  men  and  events,  much  more  so  is  it  of 
science.  Such  is  the  unity  of  nature  and  the  kin 
dred  blood  of  all  her  children,  that  the  arts  and  sci 
ences  are  never  found  far  apart.  They  are,  like  the 
virtues,  social.  If  you  are  acquainted  with  one,  you 
have  a  better  chance  of  being  introduced  to  the  rest ; 


AMERICAN  EDUCATION. 


and  if  you  would  illustrate  the  character  of  one,  you 
will  most  readily  do  it  by  the  biography  of  another. 
Hence  the  history  of  arts,  science,  and  philosophy, 
—itself  a  history  of  the  progress  of  civilization,— 
throws  a  steady  light  on  the  social  relations  of  every 
branch  of  human  knowledge. 

It  is  often  the  subject  of  vulgar  astonishment,  that 
one  could  in  a  single  life,  like  Sir  William  Jones,* 
acquire  a  facility  in  writing  and  speaking  twenty- 
eight  living  languages  ;  or,  like  Peter  of  Russia,  ac 
quire  in  a  few  years,  some  familiarity  with  numerous 
arts  :  yet,  when  we  consider  that  all  languages  have  a 
common  root,  and  are  grouped  in  classes,  whose  mem 
bers  are  strongly  analogous,  and  that  all  sciences  are 
kindred,  we  come  to  admire,  not  a  mysterious  phe 
nomenon  of  intellect,  but  a  patient  investigation 
worthy  of  all  renown. 

If  you  would  study  astronomy,  study  geometry  ; 
if  you  would  study  anatomy,  study  mechanics  ;  and 
if  you  would  study  the  effect  of  any  or  all  education 
upon  human  conduct,  study  history.  From  that  van 
tage  ground  you  will  see,  as  the  optician  discovers 
that  all  colors  are  necessary  to  make  up  the  pure 
white  light  of  day  —  that  all  principles  of  knowledge 
are  but  parts  of  one  great  and  glorious  whole.  f 


*  The  character  of  Sir  William  Jones  was  quite  a  model  in  good 
ness  as  well  as  learning. 

f  This  idea  was  thrown  out  by  Cicero  in  one  of  his  most  beauti 
ful  orations  ;  but  the  truth  of  it  is  far  better  illustrated  now  than  in 


THE  TEACHER.  73 

In  respect  to  the  second  general  subject,  the  phe 
nomena  of  mind  in  action,  I  do  not  of  course  mean 
that  knowledge  of  mind  which  is  acquired  from  par 
ticular  books  or  partial  systems.  They  are  but  aids 
to  reflection.  The  teacher  is,  however,  in  the  very 
nature  of  things,  compelled  to  analyze  the  operations 
of  mind.  He  has  it  constantly  under  his  care,  and 
sees  its  growth,  from  the  blossom  to  the  fruit.  The 
analysis  of  the  subject  taught,  which  we  have  seen 
he  must  possess,  compels  him  also  to  trace  the  inves 
tigations  of  other  minds  on  the  subject ;  and  if  it  be 
one  involving  moral  affections,  he  must  first  place  it 
in  the  crucible  of  his  own  heart  and  consciousness. 
Now  it  is  this  analysis  of  consciousness,  and  espe 
cially  of  the  grounds  of  moral  action,  which  the 
teacher  needs.  To  look  abroad  upon  others  we  are 
compelled  to  do,  for  indolence  does  not  take  away 
sight  or  hearing ;  but  to  reflect  upon  what  we  observe 
requires  some  activity  of  intellect ;  and  to  compare 
the  reflections  and  emotions  of  others  with  our  own, 
is  a  yet  more  abstract  and  difficult  undertaking. 
Such,  however,  is  the  task  of  the  moral  teacher,  and 
especially  at  those  periods  of  his  teaching  when,  in 
seeking  to  correct  some  vicious  bent  of  character,  he 
is  compelled  to  look  into  motives  of  action.  It  is 
then  that  he  will  find  a  knowledge  of  the  constitution 


his  time.  The  sciences  seem  now  mutually  contributing  to  each 
other's  glory,  and  all  illustrating  the  harmony  and  order  which  pre 
vail  in  the  work  of  creation. 


74  AMERICAN  EDUCATION. 

of  mind  available  to  the  practical  purposes  of  educa 
tion  ;  a  knowledge  which,  as  it  relates  to  the  most 
subtle  and  least  tangible  of  all  agents,  is  to  be  gained 
only  by  the  most  careful  observation.  The  qualifica 
tions  of  a  teacher  in  this  respect  should  be  simply 
that  of  a  mind  patiently  and  quietly  inquiring  after 
truth.  To  depart  from  this  and  amuse  himself  with 
dividing  mind  into  little  compartments,  like  the 
squares  of  a  chess-board,  would  be  as  wise  as  he 
who  should  attempt  to  mark  out  upon  the  clouds  the 
course  of  the  lightnings. 


THE  MODE  OF  TEACHING. 

The  qualifications  of  teachers  are  next  to  be  con 
sidered,  in  reference  to  the  mode  of  teaching.  This 
has  strict  relation  to  the  end  to  be  obtained.  Amono- 

O 

the  ancient  heathen  nations,  the  Persians,  in  the  time 
of  Cyrus,  considered  the  virtues,  especially  justice 
and  gratitude,  as  the  main  object  of  education ; 
among  the  Athenians,  accomplishments  in  arts,  sci 
ences,  and  letters,  were  the  end  ;  and  among  the  Spar 
tans,  obedience  was  the  sole  principle  of  instruction,* 
because  that  would  preserve  the  ascendency  of  the 


*  In  Rollin's  History  of  the  Greeks  and  Persians  will  be  found 
an  account  of  many  particulars  in  the  education  and  manners  of  the 
ancient  nations.  Each  of  the  ancient  nations  seems  to  have  laid 
great  stress  on  some  particular  quality  which  they  thought  adapted 
to  their  character  and  circumstances. 


THE  TEACHER.  75 

laws.  Yet  neither  of  these  answered  their  designs 
Persia  acquired  some  of  the  milder  virtues,  but  failed 
in  strength  and  hardihood  ;  Athens  found  that  nei 
ther  art  nor  science  would  avail  against  depravity  of 
morals  ;  and  Sparta  found  that  it  was  not  enough  to 
secure  obedience  to  laws  without  considering  their 
nature  and  effect ;  Persia  fell  a  victim  to  luxury, 
Athens  to  licentiousness,  and  Sparta  to  tyranny. 
Such  are  the  lessons  of  antiquity  ;  and  its  splendid 
wreck  remains  an  example  to  warn  us  against  the 
dangers  of 'partial  systems. 

But  under  the  new  light  which  the  Christian  sys 
tem  has  thrown  over  the  power  and  destiny  of  the 
soul,  a  different  view  has  been  taken  of  the  end  and 
means  of  education.  We  consider,  the  object  of  edu 
cation  now  as  twofold  : — one  to  improve  and  strength 
en  the  mind  itself;  the  other  to  endow  it  with  what 
ever  is  valuable  or  auxiliary  in  the  duties  of  life. 
The  second  relates  chiefly  to  topics  of  education, 
and  may  in  this  place  be  passed  by.  The  first,  how 
ever,  requires  an  adaptation  of  means  to  the  peculiar 
condition  of  a  thinking  and  spiritual  being. 

1.  For  this  purpose  the  teacher  must  first  place 
himself  upon  terms  of  good-will  with  his  pupil.  One 
comes  to  receive,  the  other  to  give  instruction. 
There  is,  therefore,  a  community  of  pursuit  and  of 
interests.  Their  minds  should  therefore  come  to 
gether,  without  which,  I  apprehend,  little  instruction 
is  ever  conveyed  :  it  will  be  but  the  rolling  stone  of 
Sisyphus.  Now  to  effect  this  mutuality  of  mind,  the 


76  AMERICAN  EDUCATION. 

teacher  must  from  the  first  show  himself  capable  of 
instructing,  and  that  it  is  his  happiness  and  his  pu 
pil's  gain.  Then  he  will  have  the  powerful  aid  of 
that  sympathy  which  is  the  strongest  bond  of  union 
in  the  human  heart :  then  he  can  effect  that  with 
kindness  which  no  force  can  do ;  then  he  will  sharpen 
the  dull  and  strengthen  the  weak ;  then  will  the 
rugged  steeps  of  science  be  clothed  with  verdure, 
and  the  school-house  ever  after  looked  back  upon  as 
a  sunny  spot  in  the  pathway  of  life.  The  quality  we 
speak  of  is  a  tact  in  the  teacher  ;  but  one  which  he 
must  come  by  from  nature  or  from  art.  Every  good 
and  successful  teacher  has  it.  Some  acquire  the  con 
fidence  of  their  pupils,  in  spite  of  austere  qualities, 
by  their  open,  hearty,  up-and-down  enthusiasm  for 
the  subject  of  their  teaching ;  others,  by  the  milder 
virtues  of  the  heart,  attracting  by  the  cords  of  love ; 
others  again,  by  an  art  which  readily  adapts  itself  to 
the  well-understood  movements  of  mind.  But  all 
who  would  succeed  must  have  it.  As  well  might  we 
expect  to  warm  ourselves  by  light  reflected  from  the 
impassive  ice,  as  to  gather  knowledge  from  that  cold 
indifference,  from  which  the  eager  inquiries  and  as 
piring  zeal  of  youth  pass  unregarded.  It  may  ex 
hibit  in  its  own  medium  the  prismatic  colors,  but 
sends  forth  no  genial  beam  of  heat. 

2.  The  next  step  in  the  process  of  teaching,  is  to 
inquire  how  a  subject  is  to  be  taught.  What  func 
tions  of  mind  are  we  to  call  into  activity  ?  What 
principles  are  we  to  use  ?  We  cannot  so  well  an- 


THE  TEACHER.  77 

swer  this  question  as  by  referring  to  some  notable 
errors  in  education ;  errors  which  have  prevailed  in 
times  past,  and  still  prevail ;  which  have  governed 
whole  nations ;  which  have  influenced  the  affairs  of  all 
mankind,  and  whose  contrasted  results  are  valuable 
to  us. 

THE  FIRST   ERROR  OF  TEACHING. 

The  first  of  these  errors  is  teaching  men  to  imitate, 
or  repeat,  rather  than  to  think.  We  need  to  take 
but  a  very  cursory  glance  at  the  great  theatre  of  hu 
man  life,  to  know  how  deep  a  root  this  radical  error 
has  struck  into  the  foundations  of  education.  Look 
abroad  among  men,  and  ask  yourselves  how  many 
of  the  moving  multitude  inquire  into  the  springs  of 
action?  How  many  seek  to  know  the  causes  and 
consequences  of  those  scenes  in  which  they  them 
selves  are  actors  ?  Or  to  descend  to  details,  how 
many  attempt  to  understand  the  true  principles  of 
the  business  in  which  they  are  engaged  ?  How  many 
can  correct  a  blunder  arising  merely  from  the  appli 
cation  of  a  principle  ?  Analyze  this  boasted  liberty 
of  ours ;  look  again  upon  republican  society  in  this 
freest  land  upon  earth;  separate  the  living  agents 
from  the  mere  automata  in  this  game  of  life,  and  tell 
me  how  many  of  the  latter — how  many  of  the  for 
mer!  And  if  you  are  not  pleased  with  the  result, 
tell  me  whether  this  is  a  decree  of  nature,  or  a  fault 
of  education ;  whether  you  believe  if  men  were 
taught  to  be  independent  thinkers,  and  that  while 


78  AMERICAN  EDUCATION. 

they  revered  all  that  was  good,  or  glorious,  or  valua 
ble  in  the  works  of  their  ancestors,  that  they  too  had 
an  indwelling  spirit  whose  high  prerogative  it  was  to 
extend  the  conquests  of  mind,  they  would  cease  to  in 
quire,  and  remain  dull  floats  upon  this  ocean  of  being ! 
But  if  you  would  know  what  the  effects  of  think 
ing  are,  compare  Athens  with  China.  Here  are  three 
hundred  millions  of  people — more  than  one-third 
the  human  race — whose  history  goes  far  back  into 
remote  antiquity,  and  who  commenced  with  no  small 
share  of  the  arts  and  sciences,  but  who  have  added 
not  a  single  particle  to  knowledge  nor  taken  one  step 
in  improvement ;  whose  only  policy  is  to  prevent  in 
novation,  and  whose  only  power  is  to  perpetuate  suc 
cession.*  Here  is  another  people,  whose  population 
does  not  exceed  one-tenth  that  of  Ohio,  whose  place 
can  scarcely  be  found  on  the  map,  who  commenced 
barbarians,  yet  who  have  given  to  the  world  new 
sciences  and  new  arts,  and  whose  mighty  men  in 
fused  into  language 

"  Thoughts  that  breathe  and  words  that  burn ;" 

who  reconquered   their  conquerors  by  the  spirit  of 
eloquence,  and  whose  renown  has  filled  the  earth. 

What  makes  this  mighty  difference  ?  The  one 
learned  to  repeat,  the  other  to  think. 

*  The  Chinese  are  esteemed,  by  philosophical  historians,  one  of  the 
four  primitive  nations.  What  may  be  the  effect  of  European  com 
merce  upon  them  we  cannot  tell ;  but  it  is  certain  they  have  pro- 
'h.ced  no  intellectual  impression  upon  the  world  in  a  long  time. 


THE  TEACHER.  79 

THE  SECOND  ERROR  OF  TEACHING. 

Another  error  which  has  prevailed  in  some  places 
and  times  is,  that  the  pupil  can  acquire  nothing  ex 
cept  by  observation  or  experiment.  It  assumes  that 
the  mind  can  deduce  nothing  from  given  premises, 
but  is  a  manipulator  in  the  great  school  of  art,  where 
every  thing  must  be  reduced  to  the  senses  ;  and  be 
cause  illustration  is  a  very  good  thing,  therefore  you 
cannot  have  too  much  of  it ;  and  because  experiment 
is  a  good  way  for  philosophers  to  make  discoveries, 
therefore  it  is  the  best  way  for  children  to  learn  them. 
Something  like  this  was  the  theory  of  J.  J.  Rousseau, 
who  proposed  that  a  boy  should  be  taken  at  one 
season  of  the  year  on  a  hill-top  and  shown  the  sun  in 
a  certain  position,  and  at  another  in  another — and 
thus  of  other  things ;  but  how  long  it  will  take  a  boy 
to  go  through  all  the  experiments  of  all  the  philoso 
phers  he  has  not  informed  us.  Others,  however,  have 
improved  upon  this  example,  and  introduced  the  world 
in  miniature  into  the  school-room.  Cubes,  cones,  and 
pyramids,  sun,  moon,  stars,  and  comets,  dance  at 
tendance  upon  their  levee  ;  and  when  these  fail,  the 
art  of  engraving  is  exhausted  to  exhibit  upon  the 
pages  of  the  school-book  things  human  and  inhuman, 
from  the  wonders  of  the  deep  to  "  gorgons  and  chi 
meras  dire."  Now,  doubtless,  good  maps,  globes,  or 
even  a  well-executed  picture  of  some  great  event, 
and  still  more  a  social  walk  with  some  instructive 
friend,  who  could  say,  with  David,  that  "day  unto 


80  AMERICAN    EDUCATION. 

day  uttereth  speech,  and  night  unto  night  showeth 
knowledge,"  may  be  made  useful  aids  of  a  good 
teacher  ;  for  such  a  one  cannot  be  supposed  not  to 
know  and  adapt  to  his  purpose  the  strong  attractions 
of  sense  for  the  young ;  but,  on  the  other  hand,  nei 
ther  will  he  be  expected  to  teach  abstract  truth  by 
models  or  experiments. 

The  fallacy  of  this  error  consists  in  overlooking 
the  real  advantage  which  science  confers  upon  the 
teacher — that  of  generalization.  It  is  the  condensa 
tion  of  knowledge  which  is  the  great  facility  in  the 
art  of  teaching,  afforded  by  constant  improvements. 
How  else  could  education  keep  up  at  all  with  the 
accumulation  of  knowledge  ?  It  takes  a  generation 
for  philosophy  to  discover  and  demonstrate  a  princi 
ple  which,  in  after  times,  the  pupil  learns  in  a  single 
hour. 

THE  THIRD  ERROR  OF  TEACHING. 

The  third  error,  and  in  a  great  measure  that  of 
our  times,  is  to  interpose  a  patent  machinery  between 
the  teacher  and  his  pupil ;  a  labor-saving  machine  by 
which  we  shall  print  off  minds  just  as  we  print  off 
calicoes :  flimsy,  parti-colored,  cheap  enough  they  are. 
We  get  up  a  long  array  of  text-books,  which  are  so 
good  we  hardly  know  how  to  choose  among  them ; 
and  which  facilitate  the  art  of  teaching  so  much, 
there  is  nothing  left  for  the  teacher  to  do  except,  as 
the  ancients  did  with  the  oracle  of  Delphos,  to  ask 
questions  and  receive  answers.  And  then  we  have 


THE  TEACHER.  81 

discovered  another  great  facility  in  teaching :  it  is 
rather  laborious  to  lead  the  pupil  up  the  hill  of  knowl 
edge,  and  as  the  teacher  and  he  have  to  meet  some 
where,  why  the  teacher  must  walk  down;  and  as  the 
child  cannot  talk  learnedly,  why  the  teacher  must 
talk  simply.  In  this  manner  the  grand  desideratum 
in  teaching,  as  in  many  other  arts,  that  of  getting 
along  by  doing  nothing,  is  at  last  discovered.  The 
pupil  and  the  teacher  are  both  contented.  The  one 
has  found  an  easy  chair,  and  the  other  has  no  hill  to 
climb. 

The  recapitulation  of  these  errors,  if  indeed  you 
are  prepared  to  admit  them  such,  shows  them  to  have 
one  common  origin — indolence  of  thought,  on  the  part 
of  both  pupils  and  teachers.  It  is  not  the  body  merely 
that  has  its  vis  inertice;  the  soul  partakes  of  that 
common  tendency  which  has  made  man,  in  every 
age  and  clime,  seek  some  escape  from  that  law  of  his 
nature — the  necessity  for  labor.  And  while  we  ad 
mit,  what  is  certainly  true,  that  mind  has  an  up 
ward  principle,  seeking  new  and  better  things,  we 
must  also  admit  that  in  the  mass  of  mankind  its  sen 
sualism  has  ever  overcome  its  spirituality.  Few  and 
far  between,  angel  visits,  are  those  inspirations  of 
intellect  which  lead  the  patient  scholar  in  the  face 
of  poverty,  humiliation,  disease,  and  death  to  seek  the 
viginti  annorum  lucoubrationes ;  to  spend  the  mid 
night  vigil  and  the  morning  watch  in  ascending 
through  the  works  of  God  for  that  wisdom  which  he 
sought  in  vain  among  men. 


82  AMERICAN   EDUCATION. 

It  is  no  libel  then  upon  teachers,  to  suppose  them 
possessed  of  this  common  infirmity  of  human  nature 
What  Gibbon  said  of  his  professors,  that  they  remem 
bered  they  had  a  salary  to  receive,  but  forgot  they 
had  duties  to  perform,  would  have  been  true  of  thou 
sands  of  others  had  they  been  placed  in  similar  cir 
cumstances. 

In  combating  this  difficulty,  we  have  here  in 
America,  a  great  encouragement  and  consolation. 
There  is  a  vast  difference  among  nations  as  well  as 
individuals,  in  the  natural  activity  of  mind,  and  a 
still  greater  in  institutions,  climate,  and  resources. 
The  American  mind  comes  of  a  good  stock.  It  has 
never  yielded  to  any  thing  on  earth  in  vigor  of  intel 
lect  or  purity  of  purpose.  Nor  has  corruption  of 
manners  taken  that  hold  upon  it  which  history  tells 
us  was  the  case  with  the  ancient  nations,  and  of 
which  modern  France  displays  so  vivid  a  picture. 
Our  ancestors,  too,  have  placed  it  in  the  midst  of  in 
stitutions,  allowing  the  utmost  freedom  of  inquiry, 
and  tending  to  the  utmost  cultivation  of  heart.  If 
then  we  have  high  responsibilities,  we  have  also  a 
full  treasury  to  draw  upon. 

t 

THE  TRUE  MODE  OF  TEACHING. 

Let  us  now  recur  to  the  true  mode  of  teaching,  as 
I  conceive  it,  in  opposition  to  the  errors  we  have  allu 
ded  to ;  which  is  nothing  more  than  what  the  ablest 
teachers  of  the  world  have  always  followed  to  teach 


THE  TEACHER.  83 

the  use  of  their  reason.  There  is  one  fact  in  the 
human  constitution  so  obvious  that  every  body  no 
tices  it,  and  every  body  does  or  may  draw  instruction 
from  it.  When  a  man  is  an  infant,  no  animal  is  a 
greater  imitator  than  he  ;  it  is  then  he  learns  his 
mother  tongue  ;  and  thus  he  does  whatever  he  sees 
done.  But  just  in  proportion  as  his  understanding 
strengthens,  he  ceases  to  imitate,  till  bye  and  bye,  he 
reasons  upon  every  thing,  glories  in  his  freedom,  and 
seeks  new  varieties  of  being  and  action  throughout 
the  universe. 

Now  this  seems  an  intimation  from  nature  of  the 
only  mode  by  which  the  human  understanding  can  be 
successfully  improved  ;  and  this  is  by  constant  in 
quiry  and  constant  investigation.  We  cannot  go  on 
like  the  animals,  governed  by  instinct,  repeating  and 
imitating  the  same  thing.  The  models  made  for 
them  are  perfect ;  but  the  models  of  human  workman 
ship  are  altogether  imperfect.  The  bee  may  build 
forever,  and  if  it  were  gifted  with  reason,  could  never, 
build  better  than  it  does  ;  but  man  may  build  and  for 
ever  improve. 

We  have  already  said  the  teacher  should  arm  him 
self  with  an  analytical  knowledge  of  his  subject,  and 
that  he  should  then  acquaint  himself  with  some  of 
the  observed  laws  of  the  subtle  body  upon  which  he 
is  about  to  act ;  and  having  now  determined  to  use 
reason  as  his  chief  means  of  instruction,  he  will  have 
need  of  all  the  powers  he  has  acquired.  He  will  find 
the  awakened  mind  of  his  pupil  ever  inquisitive  and 


84  AMERICAN    EDUCATION. 

ever  seeking  novelty.  He  must  carry  it,  as  in  geom 
etry,  by  clear,  strong,  dovetailed  deduction,  from  step 
to  step,  to  the  result ;  now,  as  in  chemistry,  bring  the 
aid  of  analysis  to  disintegrate  every  part,  and  show 
its  rationale  from  the  element  to  the  product ;  now, 
as  in  philosophical  grammar,  examine  all  its  rela 
tions,  and  bring  the  illustrating  light  of  history  to 
bear  upon  it :  he  must  now  excite  the  imagination 
with  a  view  of  distant  triumphs,  and  now  check  its 
aspiring  flight  through  unconquered  realms ;  now 
excite  it  with  the  glories  of  science,  and  now  humble 
it  with  a  sense  of  immeasurable  infirmity  to  the 
Almighty  Architect. 

To  do  this,  there  is  but  one  plain  rule.  Bring  mind 
to  mind,  and  heart  to  heart.  The  Scripture  saith. 
"  As  iron  sharpeneth  iron,  so  does  the  countenance 
of  a  friend  his  friend  :" — and  in  all  intercourse  of 
thought  and  emotion,  the  most  direct  is  the  best. 
The  less  interposition  of  artificial  machinery,  the 
stronger  will  be  the  impressions  of  the  teacher.  Not 
by  any  means  do  I  mean  to  say,  that  good  text-books 
and  practical  illustrations  are  not  needed  ;  on  the 
contrary,  there  is  not  a  school-room  in  the  country 
where  they  may  not,  within  certain  limits,  be  profit 
ably  used  :  but  I  do  say,  they  may  be  and  they  fre 
quently  are  relied  upon  as  the  chief  means,  instead  of 
the  adjuncts  of  teaching.  They  are  but  the  skeleton 
which  the  teacher  is  to  animate  with  life.  How  can 
the  teacher  transfer  to  the  dull  instruments  of  his 
trade,  his  directing  soul  ?  How  cnn  we  substitute 


THE   TEACHER.  85 

the  hot-bed  appliances  of  the  nursery  for  the  living 
beam  of  the  mother's  eye  ? 


THE  PERSONAL  CHARACTER  OF  THE  TEACHER. 

We  shall  now  consider  the  qualifications  of  a 
teacher,  in  reference  to  his  personal  character. 
Among  these  are  included  all  the  qualities  which  re 
late  to  government  and  example.  The  first  of  these 
qualities  is  good  breeding.  The  teacher  should  be  a 
gentleman ;  and  by  that  name  I  mean  nothing  artifi 
cial,  beyond  the  universal  customs  of  society ;  nothing 
which  fashion  can  guide  ;  nothing  to  which  the  gaudy 
glare  of  wealth  is  necessary ;  nothing  which  rank  or 
power  can  give  or  take  away.  It  is  simply  that  char 
acter  which  Christianity  carried  into  action  must  in 
evitably  produce — a  man  of  gentleness  and  good 
will  :  qualities  which  were  esteemed  as  necessary  to 
the  character  of  a  true  knight  in  the  days  of  chiv 
alry,  as  was  that  of  his  renown  in  arms.* 

Some  men,  and  good  men  too,  have  thought,  if 
they  only  walked  through  the  world  uprightly,  cer 
tainly  the  grand  desideratum,  it  was  little  matter 


*  "  For  what,  I  pray,  is  a  gentleman  ?  What  properties  hath  he  ; 
what  qualities  are  characteristical  or  peculiar  to  him,  whereby  he  is 
distinguished  from  others  and  raised  above  the  vulgar  ?  Are  they  not 
especially  two — courage  and  courtesie  ? — which  he  that  wanteth  is 
not  otherwise  than  equivocally  a  gentleman,  as  an  image  or  a  caskare 
is  a  man  ;  without  which  gentility  in  a  conspicuous  degree  is  no  more 
than  a  vain  or  an  empty  name." — Barroiv,  vol.  3,  ser.  21. 


86  AMERICAN  EDUCATION. 

what  else  they  did ;  if  they  could  only  act  fortiter  in 
re,  the  suaviter  in  modo  was  of  little  consequence. 
Now  this  is  a  mistake  of  which  bad  men  in  every  age, 
from  Pericles  to  Louis  XIV.,  from  Chesterfield  to  the 
butterfly  of  fashion,  have  taken  advantage  by  pre 
senting  the  contrast.  They  have  covered  up  their 
own  ruined  systems  with  the  beautiful  garments  of 
grace  and  courtesy  :  literally,  as  was  said  by  Professor 
Frisbie  of  a  renowned  poet,  alluring  "  the  tender  and 
the  young  till  they  breathed  the  damps  of  disease 
with  the  dews  of  heaven  ;"  while  the  man  of  virtue 
stood  afar  off,  presenting  rough  repellancies,  rich  as 
the  jewel  in  the  rock,  but  as  difficult  to  get  at.* 

Nor  let  the  teacher  suppose,  in  this  or  any  other 
matter  of  morals,  of  conduct,  or  of  opinion,  that  it  is 
no  matter,  provided  he  does  his  duty  in  the  school 
room,  what  examples  he  leaves  behind  him.  The 
very  evil  we  have  spoken  of,  the  tendency  to  constant 
repetition  and  imitation,  makes  example  of  most  pow 
erful  effect.  Let  him  not  think,  then,  that  if  he  does 
not  teach  well,  he  therefore  does  not  teach  at  all; 
that  if  he  does  no  good,  he  does  no  evil.  He  will 
teach,  in  spite  of  himself;  his  examples  will  be  like 
the  positive  and  negative  poles  of  electricity  :  if  they 
do  not  attract,  they  are  sure  to  repel.  And  he  will 
find  his  pupil  taught ;  not,  indeed,  by  the  central 


*  On  this  subject  I  can  add  nothing  to  the  remark  of  Mr.  Locke, 
who  certainly  valued  intellect  as  high  as  other  men.  Vide  Locke  on 
Education,  120. 


THE  TEACHER.  87 

influences  of  attractive  love,  to  revolve  harmoniously 
round  a  centre  of  warmth,  but  to  shoot  off,  like  some 
lone  star,  carried  away  by  its  centrifugal  force,  seek 
ing  the  void  immense,  "  in  wandering  mazes  lost." 

Next  to  good  breeding  we  may  place  that  power 
of  command  which  is  necessary  to  preserve  order. 
In  ancient  times,  we  are  told,  there  dwelt  a  sage 
called  discipline  ;  but,  if  we  are  to  believe  Cowper, 
he  long  since  fled  from  our  mother  land,  and  I  think 
none  of  us  can  say  he  has  yet  taken  up  his  perma 
nent  residence  here.  Yet,  that  his  influence  was 
salutary,  the  ancient  nations  never  doubted  ;  and  all 
Scripture  testifies,  in  the  strongest  language  of  pre 
cept  and  example.  Obedience  was  alike  the  doctrine 
of  Persian  and  of  Spartan  philosophy — of  the  Hebrew 
dispensation  and  of  the  more  glorious  system  of 
Christian  liberty ;  and  who  is  wild  or  mad  enough  to 
suppose  that  we  can  do  without  it  ?  If  such  there 
be,  over  him  we  can  never  hope  that  reason  or  phi 
losophy,  or  even  revelation  itself,  could  hold  an  influ 
ence.  We  might  indeed  enforce  its  necessity,  by  an 
inductive  process,  drawn  from  every  analogy  of  na 
ture,  and  every  law  of  rnind.  We  might  point  to 
the  volume  of  enlightening  experience,  to  the  pages 
of  the  written  law,  or  at  last  address  him,  with  Eng 
land's  purest,  noblest  poet,  in  strains  of  mingled  grief 
and  satire ;  yet,  when  all  was  done,  we  should  be 
compelled  to  adopt  the  ancient,  well-known  maxim — 

"  Quern  Deus  vult  perdere,  prius  dementat." 


88  AMERICAN   EDUCATION. 

Assuming,  then,  that  among  common-sense  men 
obedience  is  to  be  the  first  rule  of  the  school,  what  is 
to  be  the  deportment  of  the  teacher  ?  Whatever  he 
may  be  to  other  men,  however  mild  to  the  pupil  him 
self,  he '  cannot  forget,  without  ruin  inevitable,  that 
the  school-room  is  his  domain,  and  in  that  he  must 
rule  alone.  His  government  may  be  a  monarchy,  a 
republic,  or  he  may  be  a  patriarch  at  the  head  of  a 
family  ;  but  in  all  its  forms  he  is  the  supreme  execu 
tive.  Rebellion  may  produce  revolution,  but  gov 
ernment  cannot  exist  without  a  head.* 

Nor  should  he  be  unmindful  of  the  impression  of 
awe,  and  dignity,  and  learning  produced  by  his  char 
acter  upon  the  mind  of  his  pupil,  for  that  alone  is 
often  a  sufficient  means  of  government,  while  the  re 
verse  is  sure  to  destroy  all  control  over  the  lawless 
young.  Is  it  not  a  case  of  every-day  occurrence, 
that  knowledge  alone  does  not  carry  with  it  powers 

*  K  There,  in  his  noisy  mansion  skilled  to  rule, 
The  village  master  taught  his  little  school ; 
A  man  severe  he  was,  and  stern  to  view  ; 
I  knew  him  well,  and  every  truant  knew. 
Well  had  the  boding  tremblers  learn'd  to  trace 
The  day's  disasters  in  his  morning  face ; 
Full  well  they  laugh'd  with  counterfeited  glee 
At  all  his  jokes — for  many  a  joke  had  he ; 
Full  well  the  busy  whisper  circling  round 
Convey'd  the  dismal  tidings  when  he  frown'd : 
Yet  he  was  kind ;  or,  if  severe  in  aught, 
The  love  he  bore  to  learning  was  in  fault." 

Deserted  Village. 


THE  TEACHER.  89 

of  government?  I  remember  to  have  examined  a 
young  man,  whose  classical  and  scientific  acquire 
ments  would  have  fitted  him  for  a  professorship,  and 
to  have  heard,  a  few  days  afterwards,  that  his  boys 
had  turned  him  out  of  his  own  school-room.  The 
severe  disciplinarian  of  former  days  has  almost  passed 
away ;  yet  there  is  a  simplicity  mixed  with  dignity 
of  character  which  commands  respect,  and  which  is 
a  gift  rather  than  an  acquisition.  That  gift  must  be 
the  teacher's. 


CLEAR  THOUGHTS  AND  CLEAR  LANGUAGE. 

The  next  qualification  is  the  facility  of  communi 
cating  clear  thoughts  in  clear  language.  This  is  a 
grand  sine  qua  non  of  a  good  teacher.  I  cannot 
think  any  one  ever  made  a  good  instructor  without 
it ;  and  no  one  who  has  it  not,  at  least  in  a  tolerable 
degree,  need  expect  to  be  any  thing  more  than  a 
ploughboy  in  breaking  up  the  fallow-ground  of  hu 
man  ignorance.  I  do  not  mean  merely  fluency  or 
elegance  of  language,  for  I  have  heard  gentlemen 
discourse  most  rapidly  and  elegantly,  for  hours  to 
gether,  when  it  would  have  defied  the  wisdom  of 
Solomon  to  have  told  what  they  said ;  and  I  know  a 
distinguished  clergyman  of  whom  it  was  said  in  col 
lege,  that  he  could  not  state  a  proposition  in  distinct 
terms.  And  yet  this  capacity  to  state  clear  thoughts 
in  clear  language,  without  one  word  more  or  less  than 
is  necessary,  is  an  element  of  the  highest  eloquence, 


90  AMERICAN  EDUCATION. 

and  the  greatest  power  in  the  range  of  human  acqui 
sition.  It  has  distinguished  some  of  the  most  remark 
able  men  of  modern  times :  it  was  the  peculiar  talent 
of  Swift  and  Cobbett,  and  marked  the  genius  of 
Chatham  and  of  Webster ;  and  this  power  should 
always  be,  in  some  degree,  the  attribute  of  a  teacher. 
I  care  not  whether  he  is  to  officiate  in  a  country 
school-house  or  in  the  halls  of  science,  or  address  an 
Athenian  audience  in  the  groves  of  the  academy,  he 
must  in  any  event  be  able  to  convey  thought  clearly 
and  forcibly,  or  be  forever  shut  out  from  the  high  re 
wards  of  a  successful  teacher  ;  for  when  we  come  to 
consider,  it  is  only  the  conveyance  of  something  from 
the  mind  of  the  teacher  to  that  of  the  pupil,  in  the 
way  of  thought,  explanation,  or  strong  illustration, 
that  constitutes  the  peculiar  functions  of  a  teacher. 
If  it  be  merely  to  set  lessons,  or  hear  them  repeated, 
a  monitor,  an  assistant,  or  any  one  who  can  read,  can 
perform  that  office,  and  we  need  not  resort  to  culti 
vated  intellect  and  peculiar  qualifications  for  that 
purpose  :  but  our  common  sense  teaches  us  that  more 
than  that  is  necessary ;  and  all  who  are  educated  or 
are  familiar  with  public  teaching,  know  that  the 
greatest  possible  difference  exists  among  teachers  in 
their  power  to  impress  and  interest  their  pupils,  by 
the  clearness  and  force  of  their  expression.  Life  is 
too  short  for  either  young  or  old  to  spend  much  time 
in  hunting  up  an  idea  which  an  instructor  thinks  he 
has  put  away  in  some  corner  of  his  head,  but  cannot 
exactly  find  ;  nor  does  it  make  the  matter  much  better 


THE  TEACHER.  91 

if  he  throw  out  fifty  at  once,  so  confused  that,  like  the 
goods  and  chattels  of  an  auctioneer's  room,  it  will 

o 

take  half  our  life  to  separate  and  classify  them.  No  ; 
we  want  him  to  hand  them  out  distinctly,  one  by  one, 
and  just  in  the  order  they  should  be  stored  away. 
He  that  can  do  this  has  a  clear  head,  and  clear  lan 
guage,  too ;  he  is  not  a  rhetorician,  but  he  is  one  who 
is  remembered  when  rhetoricians  are  forgotten. 


THE  TEACHER  A  LOVER  OF  HIS  COUNTRY. 

Again,  the  teacher  should  be  a  lover  of  his  coun 
try — not  from  any  mean  spirit  of  selfishness,  but 
because  there  is  in  it  something  worthy  to  love,  and 
worthy  to  preserve  ;  because  it  is  the  result,  not 
merely  of  a  people  struggling  against  the  oppressions 
of  government,  but  of  mind  against  the  servitude  of 
its  own  corrupt  tendencies — the  last  rich  fruits  of 
ages  upon  ages  of  trial,  experience,  and  long-suffering 
among  nations  past ;  and  because  to  him  (the  in 
structor  of  youth)  is  intrusted,  upon  all  the  principles 
of  our  ancestors,  in  the  very  nature  of  our  institutions, 
and  in  the  very  words  of  our  fundamental  law,  the 
solemn  guardianship  of  its  life  and  its  destiny.  None 
of  the  founders  of  our  government  ever  contemplated 
the  possibility  of  its  existence  without  religion  and 
education,  and  they  have  written  it  over  and  over 
again  in  all  their  constitutions.  To  what  high  duty, 
then,  is  the  teacher  called ! 

Nor  should  he  regard  it  as  a  light  thing  that  he  is 


92  AMERICAN   EDUCATION. 

in  America,  in  these  green  and  fresh  lands  ;  not  some 
unhappy  Hindoo  worshipping  crocodiles  on  the  banks 
of  the  Ganges — or  some  serf  making  a  unit  in  the 
masses  of  the  Russian  autocrat — or  in  some  more 
doubtful  land  waiting  the  fearful  issue  of  revolution ; 
but  that  he  is  here,  to  partake  with  the  republic  in  its 
matchless  freedom,  in  the  mighty-velocity  with  which 
it  ascends  the  most  daring  heights  of  human  hope, 
and  in  those  high  responsibilities,  too,  which  God  has, 
in  every  age,  attached  to  his  peculiar  blessings. 


THE  TEACHER  A  LOVER  OF  HIS  PROFESSION. 

We  come  now  to  a  qualification  for  teachers 
without  which  I  cannot  conceive  of  success  in  any 
thing  :  it  is  a  zeal  and  a  love  for  his  profession.  And 
who  has  a  better  right  to  that  zeal  and  that  love  than 
he  ?  whose  labors  are  to  be  more  durable  in  time,  or 
wide  in  extent  ?  who,  much  more  than  liberty,  gives 
to  fleeting  life  its  color  and  its  perfume  ?  whose  influ 
ence  shall  survive  the  monuments  of  mental  glory  ? 

Would  he  compare  himself  with  artists — with  Phi 
dias  or  with  Angelo  ?  He  is  not  forming  a  work  like 
theirs,  from  the  cold  marble,  lifeless  and  perishable ; 
but  is  vested  with  power  to  mould  a  heart  warm  with 
the  beatings  of  youth,  and  direct  a  mind  perennial  in 
freshness  and  immortal  in  youth.  Does  he  compare 
himself  with  musicians — with  Handel  and  Mozart  ? 
He  is  a  performer  upon  a  more  complex  instru 
ment  than  theirs,  strung  with  a  thousand  chords,  and 


THE  TEACHER.  93 

each  chord  susceptible  of  a  thousand  tones.  Is  it  the 
hero  with  whom  he  would  compare  himself?  That 
destroys — this  creates  ;  that  conquers  a  kingdom 
of  earth — this  the  dominion  of  mind.  Is  it  the  fame 
of  the  statesman  that  he  would  reach  ?  The  states 
man  governs  empires — he  teaches  statesmen  how  to 
govern  ;  that  gives  laws  to  property — this  to  soul. 

If  it  be  fame  he  seeks,  let  him  look  at  the  roll  of 
practical  teachers  only ;  what  a  record  of  renown ! 
it  is  a  sheet  of  fire !  With  whom  is  he  enrolled  ? 
With  Plato,  with  Euclid,  with  Cicero,  with  Des 
cartes,  with  Boerhaave,  and  Newton  ;  with  Rush,  and 
Adams,  and  Dwight ;  with  Socrates,  teacher  of  men, 
and  Paul  the  apostle  of  God. 

THE  GLORY  OF  TEACHING. 

Let  the  teacher  then  remember  the  glory  of  his 
profession :  nor  let  him  suppose  that  men  are  unwil 
ling  to  learn  ;  the  history  of  the  world  is  against  such 
a  supposition.  Wherever  there  have  been  found  men 
willing  to  teach,  there  have  been  pupils  willing  to 
learn.  How  else  did  the  ancient  philosophers  draw 
multitudes  to  their  audience  ?  How  else  did  Abelard, 
in  the  midst  of  the  dark  ages,  draw  listening  thou 
sands  ?  Did  they  draw  them  to  the  mere  sound  of 
the  voice  ?  How  did  they  teach  geometry  and  arith 
metic  ?  Let  me  take  one  example  from  the  close  of 
the  middle  ages  :  the  Abbot  of  Croyland,  when  he  was 
appointed,  sent  for  four  Norman  monks  to  teach  ; 


94  AMERICAN   EDUCATION. 

they  went  on  to  the  farm  of  the  monastery  with  all 
the  zeal  of  itinerant  preachers ;  they  hired  a  barn  to 
teach  what  they  knew  of  science  and  philosophy.  In 
a  short  time  a  concourse  of  pupils  gathered  about 
them ;  in  the  second  year  the  accumulation  from  all 
the  country  round  was  so  great  that  neither  house, 
barn,  nor  church  could  contain  them.  They  separa 
ted  their  labors,  and  one  taught  grammar,  another 
logic,  another  rhetoric,  and  a  fourth  preached.  "  In 
this  unadorned  account,"  says  the  historian,  "we 
have  a  striking  proof  of  the  attachment  of  mankind 
to  intellectual  improvement,  and  their  eagerness  to 
embrace  every  opportunity  of  acquiring  it.  The  soil 
is  ever  ready ;  the  laborers  only  are  wanting  where 
it  continues  unproductive."*  Yes,  never  did  the 
teacher  step  into  the  arena  of  life  without  followers ; 
never  did  he  tread  the  path  of  instruction  that  light 
did  not  fall  upon  it ;  never  did  he  go  armed  with  fit 
instruction,  but  he  went  "  conquering  and  to  con 
quer."  Yet  I  cannot  flatter  him  with  the  hopes  of 
ease  and  idleness ;  there  is  no  royal  road  to  geometry 
— and  there  can  be  no  downy  couch  for  the  teacher. 
And  now  let  me  refer  the  reader  for  one  moment 
to  a  well-known  structure  of  science  and  of  art.  On 
the  coast  of  England  stands  the  Eddystone  lighthouse, 
many  miles  from  the  land,  on  a  sunken  rock  of  the 

*  Sharon  Turner's  History  of  the  Middle  Ages,  vol.  iv.  book  vl 
chap.  2 :  "  One  monk  taught  the  Latin  grammar,  another  taught  the 
logic  of  Aristotle,  a  third  lectured  on  rhetoric,  and  a  fourth  preached 
to  the  people." 


THE   TEACHER.  95 

ocean.  It  was  built  and  swept  away  ;  it  was  built 
again  and  burnt.  Science  comes  to  the  aid  of  com 
merce  :  it  gathered  the  materials,  and  the  tide  washed 
them  away  ;  it  collected  them  again  ;  secured,  bolted 
and  dovetailed  them  into  the  rock.  It  rose  slowly  but 
steadfastly  above  the  waters  ;  and  the  higher  it  rose, 
the  faster  it  grew  ;  and  at  last,  after  years  of  patient 
labor,  the  light  was  hung  on  high.  The  ocean  breaks 
over  its  top,  but  the  watchman  is  there  to  trim  it ; 
and  still,  that  white  light  burns  brightly  through  the 
mists.  And  never  again,  till  some  convulsion,  sent 
through  the  works  of  nature,  by  nature's  God,  shall 
that  light  fade  away. 

And  now,  my  friends,  that  tower  is  the  labor  of  the 
human  race  ;  that  light  is  science,  revealed  alike  by 
the  works  and  by  the  Scriptures  of  the  Most  High ; 
that  watchman  is  the  teacher ;  knowledge  has  been 
slowly,  patiently,  laboriously  accumulated  ;  many 
times  has  its  materials  been  swept  away  by  floods  of 
error  and  of  barbarism  ;  little  by  little  have  its  founda 
tions  been  bolted  and  riveted  by  experiment,  by  de 
monstration,  and  by  revelation.  And  now  its  light  is 
upon  the  mountain  top;  but  still  the  waves  and 
winds  of  error  and  of  doctrine  beat  upon  it.  Who 
shall  keep  it  ?  You  are  the  watchmen.  And  long 
as  storm  and  darkness  shall  abide  upon  this  wide 
ocean  of  being,  you  will  hear  a  cry  ringing  abroad, 
"  Watchman,  what  of  the  night  ?" 


96  AMERICAN  EDUCATION. 


CHAPTER    V. 

THE    IDEA    OF    SCIENCE. 

"I  think  science  may  be  divided  properly,  into  these  three  sorts: 

"First,  The  knowledge  of  things  as  they  are  in  their  own  proper  beings, — their 
constitution,  properties,  and  operations. 

"Secondly,  The  skill  of  right  applying  our  own  powers  and  actions  for  the  at 
tainment  of  things  good  and  useful. 

"Thirdly,  The  third  branch  may  be  called  the  doctrine  of  signs — the  most  useful 
whereof  being  words— it  is  aptly  enough  termed  also  logic." — Locke  on  the  Human 
Understanding,  B.  iv.  ch.  21. 

SCIENCE  may  be  generally  defined  as  systematized 
knowledge.  It  is  sometimes  confounded  with  know 
ledge  merely :  but  there  is  a  vast  amount  of  know 
ledge  which  is  no  science ;  nay,  which  never  can  be 
come  such.  For  example,  a  piece  of  intelligence  is 
received  that  a  battle  has  been  fought,  or  an  earth 
quake  occurred.  This  is  knowledge ;  but  it  is  nei 
ther  science  nor  part  of  science.  In  one  sense,  and  in 
another  and  a  distant  period  of  time,  it  may  become 
a  fact,  which,  with  a  number  of  similar  facts,  make 
up  a  general  result  in  the  philosophy  of  history.  At 
the  present,  however,  it  is  not  and  cannot  be  science. 
Science  cannot  be  wholly  disconnected  from  the 
ideas  of  system  and  reason.  It  is  the  former  condi 
tion  of  knowledge.  It  implies,  in  the  term  itself,  rea 
son,  deduction,  method,  conclusion,  system.  Science, 
therefore,  is  more  properly  the  system  which  reason 


THE  IDEA  OF  SCIENCE.  97 

has  deduced  from  facts,  than  any  arrangement  of  the 
facts  themselves. 

Science  thus  systematized  naturally  divides  itself 
into  three  very  distinct  branches,  having  their  basis, 
not  only  in  what  is  called  nature,  but  in  that  which 
is  far  higher  and  superior  to  nature  in  the  order  and 
method  of  creation. 

In  the  Book  of  Genesis,*  we  have  a  record  of  the 
order  of  succession  in  the  creation  of  the  earth  and 
its  inhabitants.  First,  we  have  the  creation  of  all 
things  necessary  to  any  thing  which  succeeded  them. 
Hence  we  have  the  substance  of  the  earth,  the  water, 
the  light,  the  stars,  the  sun,  the  fruits,  the  animals — 
all  in  succession  created  before  man,  to  whom  they 
all  were  necessary.  This  was  the  creation  of  matter 
—the  material  world — constituting  the  visible  abode 
of  spirit.  The  laws  of  matter  then  make  the  first 
subject  of  science,  and  exist  prior  to  and  independent 
of  man.  Geometry  is  the  science  of  form  and  the 
relations  of  form,  derived  from  matter  only.  These 
laws  began  to  exist  with  the  creation  of  matter,  and 
continue  to  exist  independent  of  man.  The  prin 
ciples  of  geometry  existed-,  and  the  science  would  ex 
ist,  perhaps  in  a  dormant  state,  though  man  had  nev- ' 
er  been  created.  This  is  obviously  true*  of  all  the 
principles  and  laws  which  relate  rfo  the  physical  crea 
tion.  Physical  science^  then,  is  the  first  and  most 
distinct  form  of  general  science. 

*  Genesis,  chap.  1 — The  order  of  creation. 

7 


98  AMERICAN  EDUCATION. 

Continuing  to  trace  from  divine  history  the  order 
of  creation,  we  find  that  when  the  physical  constitu 
tion  of  things  was  completed,  then  man  was  created, 
and  there  was  breathed  into  him  the  breath  of  life. 
This  life  was  not  the  same  life  as  that  given  to  the 
animals  ;  but  it  was  something  which  being  breathed 
into  man  from  God,  gave  him  dominion  over  the 
earth,  and  made  his  spirit  immortal* 

This  was  in  regard  to  this  earth — the  metaphysical 
creation — the  creation  of  a  spirit,  whose  laws  of  ac 
tion  make  a  new  subject  of  science.  Hence  we  have 
metaphysical  science,  and  that  which  is  an  application 
of  metaphysics  to  the  relation  of  things,  such  as  logic. 

Pursuing  still  the  path  of  divine  history,  we  find 
that  when  organized  matter  had  been  created,  and 
life  had  been  given  to  man,  with  dominion  over  all 
other  things,  that  then  there  was  given  to  him  a  man 
ner  of  expression  ;  a  sign  of  ideas  ;  a  means  of  com 
munication,  and  of  stating  and  making  known  the 
relations  of  things  abstracted  from  the  things  them 
selves  :  this  is  language,  grammar,  philosophy.  It  is 
the  doctrine  of  sigvns.  Algebra  is  an  example  of  it 
in  the  expression  of  physical  science  ;  and  all  litera 
ture  is  but  a  system  of  signs  for  the  expression  of 

thought. f 

Thus  we  find  the  three  great  foundations  of  science 

*  Genesis,  chap.  2,  verse  7. — "  And  the  Lord  God  formed  man  of 
the  dust  of  the  ground,  and  breathed  into  his  nostrils  the  breath  of  life ; 
and  man  became  a  living  soul" 

\  Genesis,  chap.  2,  verse  19. 


THE  IDEA  OF  SCIENCE.  99 

traced  out  in  the  very  order  and  succession  of  creation. 
Science  is  itself  but  a  development  of  the  laws  of  crea 
tion,  so  far  as  man  has  been  able  to  discover  and  devel 
op  them.  Creation  is  its  cradle,  and  every  new  discov 
ery  but  a  new  testimony  to  the  order,  beauty,  and 
harmony  which  dwell  forever  in  the  works  of  God. 

This  deduction  of  science  from  the  order  and  sys 
tem  of  the  universe,  as  exhibited  to  man,  by  the  right 
use  of  reason,  proves  clearly  for  what  end  and  pur 
pose  it  is  to  be  used  in  education.  We  have  first  the 
strengthening  of  reason  by  this  exercise  of  its  pow 
ers.  Next  we  have  the  recognition  of  order  and 
method,  in  the  pursuit  of  any  design,  or  object,  as  it 
is  illustrated  in  all  the  works  of  creation.  Next  we 
have  the  knowledge  of  fixed,  eternal  truth,  as  the 
basis  of  all  created  things.  Then  we  have  demon 
strated  the  superior  power  of  the  spirit,  by  its  faculty 
of  abstraction,  in  taking  the  principles  or  laws  from 
the  material  objects  and  laying  them  before  the  mind 
in  an  independent  condition.  Finally,  we  find  the 
higher  power  of  creating  a  language  of  signs,  which 
shall  express  their  relations,  and1  convey  them  from 
mind  to  mind,  in  a  state  of  abstraction  and  independ 
ence.  Thus  we  have  the  science  of  physics,  the 
science  of  metaphysics,  and  the  science  of  a  logic  in 
language  and  signs,  which  expresses,  explains,  and  con 
nects,  and  communicates  the  laws  deduced  from  the 
system  of  creation.*' 

*  The  recent  work  of  Professor  Davies,  on  the  "  Logic  of  Mathe 
matics,"  supplies  a  desideratum,  which  has  long  existed,  in  reference 


100  AMERICAN   EDUCATION. 

The  IDEA  of  SCIENCE,  then,  is,  in  its  general  and 
complete  sense,  the  idea  of  the  constitution ;  properties 
and  laws  of  all  created  things,  whether  of  matter  or 
mind,  as  developed  and  expressed  from  the  works  of 
creation  by  the  reason  of  man.  There  are  three 
corollaries  consequent  upon  this  idea  of  science  :  1st, 
That  it  is  the  best  exercise  to  improve  the  reason  to 
the  highest  point.  2dly,  That  as  the  works  of  God 
are  found  to  be  perfect,  this  development  of  them 
gives  the  most  complete  idea  we  can  have  of  form, 
order,  beauty,  and  harmony.  3dly,  That  as  the 
works  of  creation  are  exhaustless,  and  the  spirit  of 
man  immortal,  science  affords  an  exhaustless  field 
for  the  investigations,  the  improvement,  the  strength 
ening,  and  enlargement  of  the  human  mind.  For 
science  is  not,  in  this  idea  of  it,  limited  to  the  science 
of  matter,  nor  to  the  science  of  mind,  nor  to  the  dis 
coveries  of  man,  independent  of  Revelation.  In  one 
word,  it  is  true  science,  and  not  science  "  falsely 
so  called,"  that  I  have  here  defined.  It  is  that  law, 
of  which  Hooker  said,  "  No  less  can  be  acknowledged 
than  that  her  seat  is  the  bosom  of  God ;  her  voice 
the  harmony  of  the  world." 

to  the  connection  of  the  physical  and  metaphysical  sciences.  That 
work  is,  so  far  as  I  know,  original ;  and  it  will  be  found  as  useful  as 
it  is  novel.  The  connections  of  the  various  branches  of  physical 
science,  and  of  the  whole  with  metaphysics  and  logic,  constitute  now 
an  open  field  of  inquiry. 


THE   UTILITY  OF  MATHEMATICS.  101 


CHAPTER  VI. 

THE  UTILITY  OF  MATHEMATICS. 

tt  I  have  mentioned  mathematics  as  a  way  to  settle  in  the  mind  an  habit  of  rea 
soning  closely,  and  in  train ;  not  that  I  think  it  necessary  that  all  men  should  be 
deep  mathematicians,  but  that  having  got  the  way  ot  reasoning,  which  that  study 
necessarily  brings  the  mind  to,  they  might  be  able  to  transfer  it  to  other  parts  of 
knowledge,  as  they  have  occasion."— Locke  on  the  Human  Understanding. 

To  the  scholar  and  lover  of  knowledge,  the  sciences 
are  a  harmonious  brotherhood ;  a  golden  circle,  which 
he  would  fracture  with  scarcely  less  reluctance  than 
he  would  pluck  from  the  heavenly  system  one  of  its 
glorious  planets.  He  may  look  upon  another  with  a 
longer  and  steadier  gaze,  or  to  him  another  light  may 
be  purer  and  brighter ;  but  he  will  recollect  that  the 
illumination  of  the  mind,  like  that  of  the  firmament,  is 
made  up  of  many  lights,  each  shining  in  its  own 
sphere,  and  each,  as  it  rolls  on,  casting  its  rays  over 
that  intellectual  pathway  in  which  he  moves  to  his 
immortal  destiny. 

While,  however,  each  one  of  the  sciences  may  thus 
claim  its  own  excellence  and  its  peculiar  prerogatives, 
I  shall  consider  only  those  which,  in  a  direct  way, 
strengthen  the  reasoning  powers,  or  aid  the  manifes 
tation  and  development  of  the  human  mind  in  a  very 
remarkable  manner. 

Mathematics  belong  to  this  class,  and  have,  at  all 


102  AMERICAN  EDUCATION. 

times,  constituted  a  portion  of  a  liberal  education. 
Indeed,  arithmetic,  a  very  important  branch  of  math 
ematics,  is  so  necessary  to  the  business  calculations 
of  the  world,  as  never  to  be  omitted  in  any  course  of 
instruction,  however  slight.  This,  therefore,  no  the 
orist,  wild  as  he  may  be,  will  ever  neglect.  But  all 
the  elementary  parts  of  mathematics  are  equally  use 
ful,  as  a  means  of  education,  though  not  as  universally 
necessary  to  the  wants  of  mankind.  And  I  lay  it 
down  as  a  fundamental  principle,  that  this  science 
is  so  accessory  to  the  received  methods  of  human 
reasoning;  is  the  foundation  of  so  many  arts  and 
sciences,  and  so  interwoven  with  the  various  opera 
tions  of  society,  that  its  study  cannot  be  wholly 
omitted  in  the  schools,  without  destroying  nearly  all 
that  is  solid  and  valuable  in  education. 

Indeed,  I  cannot  conceive  of  any  such  thing  as  an 
education,  in  a  fair  sense,  without  mathematics. 
Words,  literature,  and  a  certain  species  of  metaphy 
sics,  may  be  acquired  without  any  direct  study  of 
mathematics;  but  how  can  any  accurate  ideas  of 
any  thing  in  nature  be  obtained  without  just  notions 
of  form,  measure,  magnitude,  and  quantity  ? 

What  are  the  objects  of  intellectual  education? 
I  suppose  them  to  be  twofold :  First,  the  discipline  of 
the  mind.  Second,  the  attainment  of  such  knowledge 
as  may  be  of  practical  use  in  after  life. 

I  shall  now  proceed  to  ascertain  the  real  value  of 
mathematics  as  a  means  of  education,  comparing  its 
uses  and  results  in  reference  to  human  improvement. 


THE  UTILITY  OF  MATHEMATICS.  103 

THE  KINDS   OF,   MATHEMATICS. 

Mathematics,  in  its  extended  sense,  comprehends 
more  than  that  of  which  we  now  speak.  It  is  both 
pure  and  applied :  pure,  as  respects  its  elementary 
branches — algebra,  geometry,  etc. ;  applied,  as  regards 
those  sciences,  mechanical  philosophy,  astronomy,  and 
others  dependent  upon  the  former.  The  pure  mathe 
matics  are  commonly  understood  by  that  term,  and 
in  this  sense  I  now  understand  it. 

To  improve  the  reason,  as  well  as  the  heart,  is  the 
peculiar  care  of  that  branch  of  education  whose  ob 
ject  is  the  discipline  of  the  mind.  To  do  this,  indeed, 
and  to  secure  the  ultimate  object  of  that  improve 
ment,  happiness  was  the  end  of  those  various  systems 
of  philosophy,  which,  under  glorious  names  and  beau 
tiful  forms,  have  from  time  to  time  fastened  the 
attention  of  mankind.  But  those  systems  have  suc 
cessively  sunk ;  the  reason  of  verbal  philosophy  has 
crumbled  to  pieces,  while  that  of  demonstration,  based 
upon  experiment,  has  strengthened  and  increased; 
and  with  it  knowledge  has  enlarged  its  bounds,  as 
the  successive  circles  in  the  water  increase  from  the 
centre  of  motion. 

To  measure  the  influence  of  mathematics  as  an  in 
tellectual  power  in  producing  these  results,  would  be 
10  analyze  the  whole  machinery  of  civilized  society. 
But  without  doing  that,  we  may  yet  go  far  enough 
into  mental  history  to  prove  this  science,  either  as  a 
part  of  education  or  of  knowledge,  the  most  power- 


104  AMERICAN   EDUCATION. 

ful  instrument,  after  the  growth  of  true  benevolence, 
in  the  progressive  improvement  of  the  human  race. 


MATHEMATICAL  REASONING. 

Mathematical  reasoning,  as  in  fact  all  other,  is  di 
vided  into  two  great  and  opposite  methods  of  demon 
stration — the  analytical  and  inductive.  The  one 
would  prove  the  principles  of  a  machine  by  taking  it 
to  pieces  and  examining  its  parts  ;  the  other  by  put- 
ing  those  parts  together.  At  the  head  of  one  stands 
algebra,  and  of  the  other  geometry.  Algebra  as 
sumes  the  conditions  of  a  proposition  as  it  is,  and, 
analyzing  it,  arrives  at  its  elements.  Geometry  takes 
those  elements,  and,  putting  them  together,  step  by 
step  deduces  a  conclusion  which  cannot  be  resisted. 
And  these  two  methods  comprehend  in  general  all 
the  varieties  of  demonstration — moral  or  physical— 
which  human  wisdom  has  devised,  from  the  philoso 
phers  of  the  academy  to  those  of  the  institute.  Any 
other  than  these  appeals  not  to  reason,  but  to  the  fal 
lible  testimony  of  the  senses.  In  fact,  all  treatises 
upon  logic  teach  nothing,  except  terms,  which  may 
not  be  found  in  the  elementary  propositions  of  geom 
etry  ;.  and  when  the  youth,  who  in  his  collegiate 
course  has  mastered  the  mathematics,  comes  at  the 
close  of  it  to  peruse  some  book  of  logic,  he  smiles 
with  contempt  at  what  appears  to  him  an  inferior 
method  of  reasoning.  What  form  of  syllogism — 
the  sophism  excepted — has  he  not  found  in  Euclid  ? 


THE  UTILITY  OF  MATHEMATICS.  105 

The  mode  of  reasoning,  and  the  things  reasoned 
about,  which  give  no  result  but  the  exactness  of 
truth,  claim  a  superiority  for  this  system  over  every 
other.  Observation  deceives ;  consciousness  itself 
errs  ;  but  demonstration  never.  This  method  of  in 
vestigation,  however,  though  in  general  applied  only 
to  physical  objects,  may  be  transferred  to  any  upon 
which  the  mind  can  be  employed.  It  was  the  opin 
ion  of  Mr.  Locke  that  moral  as  well  as  mathemati 
cal  science  may  be  reduced  to  a  demonstration. 
The  improvements  in  moral  investigation  seem  fast 
leading  to  this  result ;  and  Mr.  Locke,  like  some 
other  great  minds,  has,  I  believe,  published  a  truth 
which  posterity  may  see  accomplished  though  we 
may  not.* 

If  it  be  true  then  that  mathematics  include  a  per 
fect  system  of  reasoning,  whose  premises  are  self- 


*  What  is  a  demonstration  but  a  series  of  connected  truths  with  a 
conclusion  drawn  from  them?  Now  these  truths  may  be  derived 
from  any  source,  and  may  be  exhibited  in  any  form,  provided  the  con 
nection  is  kept  up  and  the  conclusion  clearly  drawn.  Mathematics 
assumes  truths  drawn  from  the  relations  of  figure  and  extension ; 
natural  philosophy  those  drawn  from  experiment.  Moral  science  de 
duces  its  conclusions  from  testimony  and  consciousness.  The  demon 
stration  in  either  case  is  the  same.  But  as  the  facts  of  mathematics 
are  at  once  obvious  to  the  senses  and  incapable  of  denial,  the  dem 
onstrations  are  the  most  perfect.  For  this  very  reason,  they  furnish 
the  best  means  of  studying  logic.  If  a  man  wished  to  learn  the  art 
of  engraving,  would  he  go  to  the  worst  engraver  in  the  land  ? 
No — to  the  best.  Then  shall  he  not  learn  reasoning  in  its  best 
form? 


106  AMERICAN  EDUCATION. 

evident,  and  whose  conclusions  are  irresistible,  ^an 
there  be  any  branch  of  science  or  knowledge  better 
adapted  to  the  discipline  and  improvement  of  the  un 
derstanding  ?  It  is  in  this  capacity,  as  a  strong  and 
natural  adjunct  and  instrument  of  reason,  that  this 
science  becomes  the  fit  subject  of  education  with  all 
conditions  of  society — with  all  conditions  of  society, 
whatever  may  be  their  ultimate  pursuits.  Most  sci 
ences,  as  indeed  most  branches  of  knowledge,  address 
themselves  to  some  particular  tastes  or  subsequent 
avocations  ;  but  this,  while  it  is  before  all  as  a  useful 
attainment,  especially  adapts  itself  to  the  cultivation 
and  improvement  of  the  thinking  faculty,  alike  neces 
sary  to  all  who  would  be  governed  by  reason  or  live 
for  usefulness. 


7*  HE  ORDER  OF  REASONING. 

But,  by  teaching  geometry  first*  and  algebra  sub 
sequently,  an  inversion  of  the  usual  order,  these  sci 
ences  prevent  the  very  method  by  which  the  human 
mind  in  its  progress  from  childhood  to  age  develops 
its  faculties.  What  first  meets  the  observation  of  a 
child  ?  Upon  what  are  his  earliest  investigations 
employed  ?  Next  to  color,  which  exists  only  to  the 
sight,  figure,  extension,  dimension,  are  the  first  ob 
jects  which  he  meets  and  the  first  which  he  examines. 

*  This  idea  is  derived  from  a  discourse  delivered  by  Mr.  Grund, 
a  teacher  of  mathematics  in  Boston. 


THE  UTILITY  OF  MATHEMATICS.  107 

He  ascertains  and  acknowledges  their  e.  istence ; 
then  he  perceives  plurality,  and  begins  to  enumerate ; 
finally,  he  begins  to  draw  conclusions  from  the  facts 
to  the  whole,  and  makes  a  law  from  the  individuals 
to  the  species.  Thus  he  has  obtained  figure,  exten 
sion,  dimension,  enumeration,  and  generalization. 
This  is  the  teaching  of  nature  ;  and  hence,  when  this 
process  becomes  embodied  in  a  perfect  system,  as  it 
is  in  geometry,  that  system  becomes  the  easiest  and 
most  natural  means  of  strengthening  the  mind  in 
its  early  progress  through  the  fields  of  knowledge. 
Long  after  the  child  has  thus  begun  to  generalize 
and  deduce  laws,  he  notices  objects  and  events, 
whose  exterior  relations  afford  him  no  conclusion 
upon  the  subject  of  his  contemplation.  Machinery 
is  in  motion — effects  are  produced.  He  is  surprised 
— examines  and  inquires.  Analysis  is  begun,  and  he 
reasons  backward  from  effect  to  cause.  This  is  al 
gebra,  the  metaphysics  of  mathematics,  and  the  sec 
ond  step  in  the  order  of  nature  ;  and  through  all  its 
varieties,  from  arithmetic  to  the  integral  calculus,  it 
furnishes  a  grand  armory  of  weapons  for  acute  phil 
osophical  investigation.  But  algebra  advances  one 
step  further ;  by  its  peculiar  notation  it  exercises,  in 
the  highest  degree,  the  faculty  of  abstraction,  which, 
whether  morally  or  intellectually  considered,  is  always 
Connected  with  the  loftiest  efforts  of  the  mind.  Thus 
this  science  when  taught  subsequently  10  geometry, 
comes  in  to  assist  the  faculties  in  their  progress  to 
the  ultimate  stages  of  reasoning  ;  and  the  more  these 


108  AMERICAN   EDUCATION. 

analytical  processes  are  cultivated,  the  more  the 
mind  looks  in  upon  itself,  estimates  justly  and  directs 
rightly  those  vast  powers  which  are  to  buoy  it  up  in 
an  eternity  of  future  being. 

The  minds  of  nations,  as  well  as  of  individuals, 
have  pursued  the  same  order ;  generations  have  their 
infancy  and  age,  and  the  great  public  mind  of  the 
world  has  cultivated  its  understanding  and  aggrega 
ted  its  knowledge  by  the  same  processes  which  are 
natural  and  necessary  to  individuals.  Thus,  the  phi 
losophers  of  ancient  Greece  perfected  plain  geometry, 
and  Euclid  is  still  a  text-book  in  modern  schools.* 
But  not  so  with  analysis ;  the  Greeks  knew  not  the 
numerals,-)-  and  their  whole  arithmetic  was  exceed 
ingly  imperfect,  while  in  algebra  they  were  but  be 
ginners,  having  scarcely  advanced  beyond  equations 

*  Geometry,  like  most  other  sciences,  is  supposed  to  have  had  its 
origin  among  the  Chaldeans,  or  Egyptians.  But  however  that  may 
have  been,  their  knowledge  upon  the  subject  must  have  been  slight ; 
for  it  was  Pythagoras,  in  the  year  five  hundred  and  ninety  before 
Christ,  who  discovered  the  fundamental  proposition  that  the  square  of 
the  hypothenuse  is  equal  to  the  sum  of  the  squares  of  the  other  two 
sides.  Euclid  appeared  in  the  year  three  hundred  B.  C.  His  object 
was  to  systematize  the  scattered  discoveries  in  science,  and  clothe 
them  in  the  strictest  form  of  reasoning ;  and  he  did  it  with  such  suc 
cess,  that  no  book  of  science  ever  attained  the  duration  and  celebrity 
of  Euclid's  elements.  They  were  for  many  centuries  taught  exclu 
sively  in  many  schools,  and  translated  and  commented  upon  in  all 
languages. —  Vide  Bossuefs  History  of  Mathematics. 

\  The  Greetfs,  and  all  other  ancient  nations,  used  letters  and  other 
characters  for  arithmetical  operations,  but  of  arithmetic  itself  they 
knew  very  little. 


THE  UTILITY  OF  MATHEMATICS.  109 

of  the  first  or  simplest  order.  The  invention  of 
numerals,*  the  algebraic  notation,  the  solution  of 
equations  of  the  higher  order,  the  invention  and  use 
of  logarithms,!  and  finally,  the  integral  calculus,  were 
reserved  for  that  periodf  in  the  progress  of  know 
ledge  when  the  human  mind  at  once  overthrew  the 
Aristotelian  philosophy  and  substituted  that  of  reason 
and  experiment.  And  it  is  not  unworthy  of  remark, 
that  the  disappearance  of  the  verbal  school  was  co 
eval  with  the  advance  of  analysis.  A  mathematician, 
Descartes,  with  one  hand  overthrew  the  verbiage  of 
the  ancient  metaphysics,  and  with  the  other  improved 
the  analysis  of  algebra.§ 

We  thus  see  that  mathematical  reasoning  conforms 
itself,  step  by  step,  to  the  order  of  nature,  and  that 
the  history  of  mathematics  is,  in  fact,  the  history  of 
human  improvement. 


*  The  invention  of  the  numerals  is  by  some  attributed  to  the  Hin 
doos;  but  this,  like  many  other  tremendous  drafts  upon  credulity  by 
the  Brahmins  and  mandarins  of  Hindostan  and  China,  is  an  unproved 
assertion.  Our  numerals  were  derived  directly  from  the  Arabs.  They 
were  introduced  into  Europe  about  the  year  960,  by  Gerbert,  who  was 
Pope  Sylvester  II 

f  It  was  in  the  sixteenth  century  that  equations  of  the  higher  or 
ders,  third,  fourth,  and  fifth  degrees,  were  resolved  by  Garden,  Vieta, 
and  others.  Logarithms  were  invented  by  Napier,  of  Scotland,  who 
was  born  1550,  died  1617. 

J  About  the  years  1684-6  the  method  of  fluxions  was  discovered, 
by  Newton  and  Leibnitz. 

§  Descartes  was  born  1596,  died  1650.  He  introduced  the  nota 
tion  by  exponents. 


110  AMERICAN  EDUCATION. 


BIOGRAPHICAL   ILLUSTRATIONS. 

The  use  of  this  science  as  a  discipline  of  the  mind, 
derives  a  strong  practical  argument  from  a  fact  which 
biography  spreads  before  us  ;  that,  aside  from  the 
realms  of  fiction  and  fancy,  almost  all  great  minds 
which  have  exercised  power  over  human  affairs, 
whether  for  good  or  for  evil,  have  been  aided  and 
strengthened  by  the  study  of  mathematics.  They 
have  pursued  it  not  merely  as  a  task  prescribed  by  the 
routine  of  education,  but  resorted  to  it  at  subsequent 
periods  as  a  great  mental  arsenal,  with  whose  keen 
and  powerful  weapons  they  were  to  subdue  to  their 
purposes  the  will  and  the  resources  of  others.  Let 
us  take  a  few  examples  from  modern  history,  record 
ed  as  beacon-lights  in  the  progress  of  mind. 

Heroes  and  statesmen,  those  brilliant  points  in  the 
eye  of  fame,  have  not  disdained  to  profit  largely  by 
mathematical  studies.  Peter  the  Great,*  who,  wheth 
er  we  contemplate  his  private  or  public  character,  or 
the  results  of  that  character  in  the  subsequent  pro 
gress  of  his  empire,  was  a  sublime  anomaly  in  the 
race  ol  monarchs,  owed  his  early  education  to  a  di 
plomatist,  a  mathematician,  and  his  mother.  His 
subsequent  acquisitions,  in  naval  architecture  and  in 
various  branches  of  mechanics,  were  such  as  could 
only  have  been  made  by  the  aid  of  mathematics. 

Napoleon,   in  whom    intellectual    power  was    the 

*  Encyclopedia  Americana,  art.  "  Peter  the  Great," 


THE  UTILITY  OF  MATHEMATICS.  Ill 

foundation  of  greatness,  was  all  his  life  an  enthusiast 
in  this  science.  In  the  school  of  Brienne  he  pur 
sued  it  with  youthful  ardor.  It  was  the  subject  of 
his  midnight  studies,  and  the  element  of  his  unsur 
passed  success. 

Jefferson,  the  statesman  and  philosopher,  was  so 
much  an  adept  in  mathematics,  that  he  drew  from 
private  life  to  public  station  a  distinguished  mathe 
matician  from  the  perusal  of  his  works  alone ;  and  is 
it  a  small  honor  to  the  memory  of  the  illustrious  dead 
to  say,  that  he  and  Clinton,  likewise  the  friend  of  let 
ters  and  science,  contributed  more  to  their  improve 
ment  and  encouragement,  than  all  the  other  states 
men  of  our  country  united  ? 

If  we  pass  to  theologians,  we  find  Barrow,  whom 
the  witty  Charles  the  II.  called  an  unfair  preacher, 
because  he  so  exhausted  the  subject  as  left  nothing 
for  others  to  say,  a  mathematician  second  only  to 
Newton. 

In  our  own  country,  Dwight,  whose  name  and  in 
fluence  will  be  transmitted  through  many  generations, 
was  several  years  both  a  student  and  instructor  of 
mathematics. 

There  are  few  greater  names  in  medicine  than 
Boerhaave,*  yet  so  convinced  was  he  of  the  necessity 


*  Boerhaave  was  a  great  improver  of  medicine,  a  learned  scholar, 
and  an  eminent  Christian.  He  was  highly  skilled  in  Latin,  Greek, 
and  Hebrew.  He  was  a  chemist,  a  professor,  a  lecturer  in  the  uni 
versities,  and  a  practitioner  to  whom  patients  resorted  from  all  parts 
of  Europe.  He  studied  mathematics  con  amore,  and  declared  in  an 


112  AMERICAN   EDUCATION. 

of  mathematical  learning,  that  in  the  university  he 
pursued  it  with  assiduity,  and  in  his  later  years,  with 
still  greater  industry.  He  went  further,  and  recom 
mended  the  application  of  mechanical  principles  to 
practical  anatomy,  of  mathematical  reasoning  to  the 
investigation  of  diseases. 

One  of  the  greatest  of  England's  lawyers — Erskine, 
I  believe — carried  Euclid  in  his  pocket,  and  gave  as 
a  reason,  that  it  was  the  best  book  of  logic,  and  there 
fore  the  best  adapted  to  his  profession,  of  any  he  had 
ever  met  with.  And  it  is  due  to  that  profession,  who 
move  in  the  advance  guard  of  nations,  and  are  wise, 
at  least  in  the  wisdom  of  this  world,  to  say  that  the 
greatest  of  its  number,  from  Bacon  and  Hale  to 
Brougham  and  Parsons,  have  laid  the  foundations  of 
their  education  deep  in  the  mathematics.  The  late 
Chancellor  of  England  is  said  even  now  to  be  a  stu- 


oration,  delivered  before  the  University  of  Leyden,  that  as  to  philoso 
phy,  "  all  the  knowledge  we  have  is  of  such  qualities  alone  as  are  dis 
coverable  by  experience,  or  such  as  may  be  deduced  from  them  by 
mathematical  reasoning."  And  this  is  the  simple  truth,  known  and 
acknowledged  by  all  improvers  of  science. 

As  a  Christian,  he  was  pure,  active,  and  practical.  Once,  after  fif 
teen  hours  of  exquisite  pain,  lie  prayed  that  God  would  take  hi  *  life. 
This  he  sincerely  regretted,  on  account  of  its  impatience  and  want  of 
confidence  in  God.  A  friend,  who  was  by,  consoled  him  by  attribut 
ing  it  to  the  unavoidable  infirmities  of  human  nature.  But  he  re 
plied,  that  "he  that  loves  God,  ought  to  think  nothing  desirable  but 
what  is  pleasing  to  the  Supreme  goodness."  Thus  died  Boerhaave,  a 
man  formed  by  nature  for  great  designs,  and  gui  led  by  religion  in 
the  exertion  of  his  abilities.— See  Johnson's  Life  of  Herman  Boerhaave. 


THE  UTILITY  OF  MATHEMATICS.  113 

dent  of  this  profound  science.  And  in  what  other 
school  could  those  illustrious  minds  have  acquired 
that  clearness  of  method,  and  strength  of  illustration, 
which  make  their  very  statements  arguments,  and 
their  conclusions  conviction  ?  These  were  practi 
cal  men,  who  never  left  the  substance  before  them, 
like  the  dog  in  the  fable,  for  the  shadows  of  imagina 
tion. 

If  we  take  examples  from  the  lives  of  those  who 
have  improved  the  world  by  mechanical  ingenuity, 
we  shall  find  them  not  less  striking.  Fulton  received  a 
common  English  education,  but  subsequently  studied 
the  arts  and  sciences  in  England,  and,  before  the  in 
vention  of  the  steamboat,  acquired  the  higher  mathe 
matics  at  Paris. 

Whitney,  in  his  early  youth,  except  his  great  me 
chanical  propensity,  had  no  predilection  for  any  study 
but  arithmetic  ;  and  afterwards,  in  college,  preferred 
the  mathematics  to  other  pursuits.  And  his  biogra 
pher  remarks  that  he  wras  a  distinguished  example  of 
the  beneficial  effects  of  a  liberal  education  upon  a 
practical  man,  as  well  in  respect  to  the  economy  of 
business  as  in  the  triumphs  of  mechanical  .skill.* 

And  these  were  men  whose  minds  were  strength 
ened  by  mathematical  studies.  They  were  mighty 
men — the  one  covered  the  earth  with  the  moving 
monuments  of  science,  and  the  other  added  forty 
millions  annually  to  the  resources  of  his  native  land ; 

*  Life  of  Whitney,  by  Professor  Olrmiearl.     See  Silliman's  Jour. 
8 


114  AMERICAN   EDUCATION. 

and  both  did  more  for  the  physical  comfort  and  im 
provement  of  the  world  than  all  their  generations 
besides.* 

The  examples  I  have  given  are  none  of  them 
drawn  from  the  ranks  of  professed  mathematicians. 
These  men  studied  other  sciences,  and  followed  other 
pursuits  ;  but  they  resorted  to  mathematics  as  an  in- 

*  I  said,  above,  "aside  from  the  realms  of  fiction  and  fancy,"  but 
mathematics  has  not  always  been  excluded  from  them.    Where  is  he, 
whom  the  world  equals  with  immortal  Homer  ? 
"  Is  not  each  great,  each  amiable  muse 
Of  classic  ages  in  thy  Milton  met? 
A  genius  universal  as  his  theme; 
Astonishing,  as  chaos,  as  the  bloom 
Of  blooming  Eden  fair,  as  heaven  sublime." —  Thomson. 

To  show  what  were  the  studies  of  Milton,  I  make  this  quotation 
from  Bishop  Newton's  Life  of  Milton. 

"  Here  he  resided  with  his  parents  for  the  space  of  five  years,  and 
as  he  himself  has  informed  us  (in  his  second  defence,  and  the  seventh 
•  of  his  familiar  epistles),  read  over  all  the  Greek  and  Latin  authors, 
particularly  the  historians ;  but  now  and  then  made  an  excursion  to 
London,  sometimes  to -buy  books,  or  meet  his  friends  from  Cambridge, 
and  at  other  times  to  learn  something  new  in  the  mathematics  or 
music,  with  which  he  was  extremely  delighted." 

Five  years  of  such  studies  voluntarily  pursued,  after  the  usual 
course  of  education,  were  certainly  different  vocations  from  those 
which  engage  the  mass  of  reformers  in  learning,  but  not  more  so  than 
are  their  moderate  attainments  from  the  splendid  results  exhibited  in 
the  character  and  productions  of  John  Milton.  From  the  classic  au 
thors  lie  may  be  supposed  to  have  derived  that  fund  of  ancient  learn 
ing  which  shines  so  conspicuously  in  all  his  works  ;  from  mathematics 
that  strength  of  logic,  which  made  him  the  best  controversialist  of  his 
day,  and  from  music,  that  sense  of  melody,  which  is  essential  to  the 
formation  of  a  good  poet  or  good  writer. 


THE  UTILITY  OF  MATHEMATICS.  115 

tellectual  instrument  as  well  as  a  useful  attainment. 
They  used  it  as  an  element  of  power.  They  acquired 
power ;  and  they  have  poured  its  influence,  for  good 
or  for  evil,  for  the  present  and  the  future,  through  all 
the  mass  of  human  kind. 

The  biographical  facts  to  which  I  have  alluded 
arise  from  fixed  principles  of  mind.  A  great  mind 
influences  others,  so  far  as  intellect  is  concerned,  by 
the  superior  rapidity  and  certainty,  almost  amounting 
to  prophecy,  with  which  it  arrives  at  results  ;  and  it 
obtains  these  results  by  assembling  the  facts,  that  is, 
the  elements  of  the  question,  combining  them  and  de 
ducing  a  conclusion.  Now  these  are  the  very  facul 
ties — comparison,  combination,  and  judgment — which 
mathematical  reasoning  quickens  and  invigorates  ;* 
and  it  is  the  exercise  .of  these  powers  by  the  study 
of  mathematics  which  has  given  superior  strength  to 
so  many  minds  over  others  who  have  cultivated  other 
faculties. 

It  was  thus  that  Peter  the  Great  compared  his  bar- 

— _ 

*  The  faculty  of  combination  is  that  of  (what  is  called)  genius. 
Let  any  one  examine  carefully  the  creations  of  a  great  poet,  as  Mil 
ton,  Shakspeare,  or  Scott ;  and  the  results  of  a  great  military  mind, 
as  exhibited  in  the  conduct  of  Csesar  and  Bonaparte  ;  or  the  inven 
tions  of  great  mechanical  skill,  as  in  Arkwright  and  Whitney  ;  or  the 
sublime  discoveries  and  demonstrations  of  Newton,  and  he  will  find 
an  instructive  volume,  illustrating  this  department  of  intellect.  This 
volume  affords  no  space  to  enlarge  upon  this  subject ;  but  the  intelli 
gent  inquirer  can  easily  refer  to  the  facts.  It  is  sufficient  to  say  that 
mathematical  studies  are  full  of  exercise  and  employment  for  this 
faculty. 


116  AMERICAN   EDUCATION. 

ren  empire  with  the  rest  of  Europe  ;  assembled  the 
means  of  civilization,  and  brought  his  nation  from 
darkness  to  light :  it  was  thus  that  Bonaparte  com 
prehended  the  principles  of  the  revolution ;  combined 
the  resources  of  his  empire  upon  single  points ;  and 
crushed  nation  after  nation,  till  physical  force  accom 
plished  in  his  overthrow  what  the  genius  of  Europe 
could  not  perform :  and  it  is  thus  that  Brougham,  in 
the  simple  declaration  that  "  the  schoolmaster  is 
abroad,"  shows  the  comparison  between  the  modern 
and  the  ancient  world  ;  while  he  announces  to  cor 
rupted  governments  and  decrepit  superstitions,  that 
their  sceptres  have  departed. 

Thus  have  history  and  biography*  confirmed  my 
proposition ;  and  if  on  the  one  hand  these  eyes  oi 
wisdom  exhibit  positive  examples  of  those  who  by 
the  aid  of  mathematical  reasoning  and  method  have 
performed  their  functions  with  the  power  and  regu 
larity  of  planets  in  their  course,  so  also  our  own 

*  It  is  certain  that  too  much  value  cannot  be  placed  upon  history 
and  biography  properly  studied.  Public  history  contains  the  embod 
ied  mass  of  human  experience  ;  private,  the  means  by  which  the  nat 
ural  faculties  and  affections  have  been  made  to  produce  the  prac 
tical  results  we  see  exhibited  in  the  life  of  an  individual.  It  is  in 
fact,  when  philosophically  written,  a  picture  of  education  acting 
upon  mind  and  heart.  But  to  study  it  properly,  books  must  be 
written  differently  from  the  mass  of  modern  history.  Tacitus,  Rob 
ertson's  Introduction  to  Charles  V.,  Hallam,  and  similar  authors,  must 
be  the  models,  instead  of  the  confused  and  uninstructive  details  of 
blood  and  glory  which  have  so  long  dazzled  the  eyes  of  unreflecting 
historians. 


THE  UTILITY   OF  MATHEMATICS.  117 

observation  furnishes  negative  illustrations  in  the 
lives  of  many,  who,  without  that  aid,  but  with  no  less 
genius,  have  beat  the  air  with  vain  efforts,  till  at  last, 
like  shooting-stars,  they  went  out  forever.* 

I  have  now  endeavored  to  show  that  the  mathe 
matics  contain  a  complete  system  of  reasoning  ;  that 
as  such,  they  conform  to  the  order  of  nature  in  the 
development  of  the  faculties,  individual  and  national ; 
that  their  progress  is  consistent  with  the  history  of 
human  improvement ;  and  that  they  have  success 
fully  assisted  in  the  cultivation  of  the  greatest 
minds. 

Now  if  these  propositions  be  true,  I  think  it  irre 
sistibly  follows  that  they  present  the  best  known 
means  of  strengthening  the  intellect,  of  disciplining 
the  faculties,  of  cultivating  the  thinking  principle ; 
and,  in  one  wTord,  of.  improving  the  human  under 
standing. 

THE   ATTAINMENT  OF  PRACTICAL  KNOWLEDGE. 

The  second  great  object  of  intellectual  education 
is  the  attainment  of  such  practical  knowledge  as  may 
be  of  use  in  after  life.  Now  it  is  clear  that  in  a  gen 
eral,  not  professional  education,  those  branches  of 


*  How  many  men  of  brilliant  faculties  fail  from  instability  of 
character  !  "  Unstable  as  water,  thou  shalt  not  excel."  And  what 
is  the  cause  of  this  instability,  but  want  of  balance,  as  well  as 
strength  in  the  faculties?  And  what  can  give  this  balance  and 
strength  so  well  as  mathematical  investigation  ? 


118  AMERICAN  EDUCATION. 

science  which  contribute  the  most  to  others,  and 
which  are  connected  with  the  most  numerous  pur 
suits  of  life,  are  the  most  useful  attainments.  And  in 
this  point  of  view,  is  there  any  science  comparable  in 
utility  to  this  ?  What  sciences,  not  wholly  moral, 
are  disconnected  from  it  ?  Where  shall  we  go  and 
not  find  its  principles  in  active  and  profitable  oper 
ation  ?  The  connection  of  mathematics  with  the  arts 
and  sciences  of  civilized  life,  are  strikingly  illustrated 
in  many  of  the  most  common  occupations  of  society. 
Descending  from  the  ambitious  heights  of  intellectual 
renown,  let  us  consider  the  simple  operation  of  house 
building  :  how  much  is  it  indebted  for  its  improve 
ment  to  practical  mathematics !  and  how  clearly 
and  how  certainly  would  all  the  operatives  connected 
with  it  be  better  qualified  for  profit  and  success  in 
their  vocation,  by  a  knowledge  of  its  elementary 
principles  !  They  have  to  call  into  operation  at  ev 
ery  step  the  practice,  if  not  the  theory,  of  three 
branches  of  this  science — practical  geometry,  the 
strength  and  stress  of  materials,  and  the  principles  of 
stone-cutting.  The  very  works  written  to  instruct 
the  young  carpenter  in  his  profession,  are  works 
upon  geometry ;  and  he  cannot  understand  them  till 
he  understands  its  principles.  It  is  true  that  he  may 
plane  and  square  timber  without  geometry ;  that  he 
may  receive  the  dimensions  of  the  rafters,  the  beams, 
and  girders  of  the  roof,  from  the  master-builder,  and 
make  them  all  fit ;  the  master-builder  may  himself 
have  received  the  practical  rule  without  a  knowledge 


THE  UTILITY  OF  MATHEMATICS.  119 

of  its  principles ;  yet  can  there  be  a  doubt  that  they 
would  both  have  worked  with  more  economy  and 
accuracy,  if  they  had  understood  the  common  prop 
erties  of  a  right-angled  triangle  ?  And  when  they 
advance  to  the  more  difficult  cases  of  spiral  stairways 
and  vaulted  roofs,  it  is  easy  to  see  that  an  ignorance 
of  principle  may  lead  to  both  error  and  waste. 

The  difficulty  in  positive  rules  prepared  for  uned 
ucated  men  is,  that  they  can  never  bend  to  circum 
stances  ;  and  the  workmen  go  on  in  a  fixed  track,  in 
cases  where  they  might  have  changed  it  without  a 
variation  of  principle,  but  with  the  greatest  economy 
of  time  and  money.  The  calculation  of  the  strength 
and  stress  of  timber,  though  very  simple  in  itself,  is, 
notwithstanding,  an  analytical  problem,  which  one 
unacquainted  with  the  principles  of  algebra  could  not 
solve ;  yet  is  it  everywhere  important  that  it  should 
be  properly  determined.  Very  recently  the  roof  of  a 
large  cathedral  in  England,  which  was  supposed  to 
be  a  model  of  architecture,  fell  by  its  own  weight, 
destroying  in  a  moment  the  result  of  a  great  expendi 
ture  of  time  and  money ;  a  fact  which  could  never 
have  occurred  had  the  architect  resolved  a  practical 
problem  in  the  strength  of  materials.  In  the  construc 
tion  of  groined  arches,  whether  for  roofs,  door-ways, 
vaults,  or  bridges,  the  principles  of  descriptive  geom 
etry  are  equally  applicable  and  necessary ;  the  cate 
nary  and  elliptical  curves,  which  are  their  best  form, 
cannot  be  understood  without  the  higher  geometry ; 
the  arch  cannot  be  built,  without  the  greatest  ex- 


120  AMERICAN   EDUCATION. 

travagance  in  the  use  of  materials,  unless  the  precise 
form,  of  every  stone  is  known  before  it  is  cut  from 
the  rock.  Such  was  the  fact  in  some  of  the  finest 
specimens  of  modern  architecture  ;  and  such  also  was 
the  case  in  the  building  of  Solomon's  temple  ;  for  it  is 
recorded  in  the  book  of  Kings*  that  "  the  house,  when 
it  was  building,  was  built  of  stone  made  ready  before 
it  was  brought  thither,  so  that  there  was  neither  ham 
mer  nor  axe,  nor  any  tool  of  iron,  heard  in  the  house 
while  it  wras  building."  And  this  fact  also  corrobo 
rates  a  former  position,  that  geometry  long  preceded 
analysis. 

If  the  quantity  of  timber,  stone,  and  other  material 
wasted  in  building,  from  the  want  of  a  very  little 
knowledge  of  mathematics,  could  be  calculated,  I 
have  little  doubt  its  price  would  educate  all  the 
young  mechanics  of  the  land.  Science  is  economi 
cal;  it  repays  the  people  a  hundred-fold  for  what  is 
expended  in  its  cultivation. 

Let  us  take  another  example  in  the  case  of  survey 
ing.  Everybody  knows  that  carrying  the  chain  and 
compass,  and  blazing  trees,  is  no  very  difficult  opera 
tion  ;  yet  of  wrhat  USE  would  it  be,  if  there  was  not 
mathematical  knowledge  to  calculate  the  results? 
The  surveyor  himself  must  at  least  have  some  know 
ledge  of  trigonometry  ;  and  is  it  not  obvious  that 
every  chainman  in  the  forest  would  perform  his  duty 
better,  if  he  were  acquainted  with  the  objects  and 

*  1  Kings,  vi.  7. 


THE   UTILITY    dF   M  AT!i  CM  ATlCd.  121 

principles  of  the  business  in  which  he  is  engaged  ? 
He  would  then  know  where  and  how  to  apply  his 
labor  to  the  best  advantage.  But  in  the  beautiful 
survey  of  the  Northwestern  Territory,  mathematics 
has  exercised  a  still  higher  faculty ;  all  the  section- 
lines  are  based  upon  the  meridian- lines,  and  these 
meridian-lines  were  fixed  by  the  nicest  astronomical 
calculations,  while  yet  the  Indian  had  not  learned 
the  mastery  of  the  pale-face,  and  civilization  an 
nounced  itself  only  in  the  triumph  of  its  proudest 
sciences ! 

In  hydraulics  we  find  the  principles  of  mathematics 
equally  necessary :  here,  all  the  calculations  of  the 
velocity,  power,  and  quantity  of  moving  fluids  de 
pend  upon  these  principles.  How  can  a  millwright 
be  master  of  his  business  without  understanding 
them  ?  The  very  shape  of  the  cogs  in  his  wheels  are 
determined  by  them  ;  their  form  is  that  of  the  cycloid 
— a  curve  generated  by  a  fixed  point  in  the  circum 
ference  of  a  circle  revolving  in  a  right  line ;  and  he 
must  understand  that  curve,  or  he  can  never  judge 
whether  his  wheels  are  fit  for  use.  And  how  is  he  to 
ascertain  the  quantity  of  water  necessary  to  move 
them  ?  and  how  is  he  to  ascertain  the  quantity  dis 
charged  ?  If  he  will  turn  to  a  practical  treatise  on 
mills  he  will  readily  find  a  rule  for  it,  but  one  which 
neither  improves  his  understanding  nor  his  pocket. 
If,  however,  he  would  study  a  few  of  the  laws  of 
forces,  of  descending  bodies,  and  moving  fluids,  he 
could  then  make  a  rule  for  himself,  and  could  adapt 


122  AMERICAN  EDUCATION. 

it  to  all  'the  changing  circumstances  of  locality  and 
power. 

In  the  construction  of  canals,  railroads,  bridges, 
and  in  all  the  operations  of  civil  engineering,  math 
ematics  are  the  essential  element.  In  addition  to 
algebra  and  geometry,  trigonometry  and  the  conic 
sections  find  him  full  employment.  Mountains  and 
valleys  are  to  be  reduced  to  a  level,  rivers  turned 
from  their  channels,  and  all  to  be  done  with  a  cer 
tainty  and  economy  which  nothing  but  the  calcula 
tion  and  reasoning  of  mathematics  can  effect.  And 
when  the  beautiful  and  grand  result  is  obtained ; 
when  the  high  hills  are  brought  down  and  space  trav 
ersed  with  the  speed  of  the  winds ;  when  the  people 
and  products  of  the  most  distant  nations  meet  to 
gether  wrth  the  ease  and  safety  of  near  neighbors  ; 
when  knowledge  is  borne  over  the  earth  by  the 
chariot-wheels  of  all-conquering  science ;  when  civ 
ilization  and  Christianity  herself  look  to  these  results 
as  their  kind  and  beneficent  aids  ;  shall  we  not  inquire 
by  what  means  they  were  accomplished  ?  Shall  we 
learn  nothing  from  the  principles  by  which  this  vast 
machinery  is  moved  ?  Or  shall  education  neglect 
them,  when  she  is  gathering  the  elements  of  a  great 
and  useful  mind  ?  Of  the  millions  who  rejoice  and 
wonder  and  admire  over  these  achievements,  few  arc 
either  taught  or  seek  to  know  the  means  by  which 
they  are  produced.  Genius,  cries  the  assembled  mul 
titude,  genius  is  great  and  glorious  !  Yes  ;  genius  is 
indeed  great — the  admirable  work  of  a  perfect  being  : 


THE  UTILITY  OF  MATHEMATICS.  123 

yet  genius  unaided  has  done  none  of  these  things  ;  but 
with  industry  and -vigilance  she  has  gathered  the  ag 
gregate  wisdom  of  uncounted  ages  ;  she  has  called 
arithmetic  from  the  land  of  Chaldea ;  geometry  from 
the  plains  of  ancient  Greece  ;  logarithms  from  the 
hills  of  modern  Scotland ;  and  from  the  darkness  of 
deep  antiquity,  as  well  as  from  the  brightness  of  the 
fresh  and  living  present,  she  brings  the  treasures  ol 
science  to  aid  her  in  blessing  mankind. 

The  connection  of  mathematics  with  the  arts, 
sciences,  and  employments  of  civilized  society  are 
far  too  numerous  for  reference  here.  Those  I  have 
selected  are  cases  of  ready  and  familiar  observation  : 
and  if  they  enter  thus  into  the  accustomed  walks  of 
life,  still  more  do  they  into  those  higher  and  nobler 
studies,  whose  object  is  to  develop  the  laws  and  struc 
ture  of  the  universe.  Man  may  construct  his  works 
by  irregular  and  uncertain  rules  ;  but  God  has  made 
an  unerring  law  for  his  whole  creation,  and  made  it, 
too,  in  respect  to  the  physical  system,  upon  prin 
ciples  which,  so  far  as  we  now  know,  can  never  be 
understood  without  the  aid  of  mathematics. 


THE   STUDENT  WITHOUT  MATHEMATICS. 

Let  us  suppose  a  youth  who  despises,  as  many  do, 
these  cold  and  passionless  abstractions  ;  yet  he  is  in 
tellectual — he  loves  knowledge  ;  he  would  explore 
nature  and  know  the  reason  of  things;  but  he  would 
do  it  without  aid  from  this  rigid,  syllogistic,  measur- 


124  AMERICAN  EDUCATION. 

ing,  calculating  science.  He  seeks  indeed  no  "  royal 
road  to  geometry  ;"  but  he  seeks  one  not  less  difficult 
to  find,  in  which  geometry  is  not  needed.  He  begins 
with  the  mechanical  powers.  He  takes  a  lever,  and 
readily  understands  that  a  weight  will  move  it  ;  but 
the  principle  upon  which  different  weights  at  differ 
ent  distances  move,  he  is  forbidden  to  know  ;  for  this 
depends  upon  ratios  and  proportions.  He  passes  to 
the  inclined  plane  ;  but  quits  it  in  disgust  when  he 
finds  its  action  depends  upon  the  relations  of  angles 
and  triangles.  The  screw  is  still  worse  ;  and  when 
he  comes  to  the  wheel  and  axle,  he  gives  them  up  for 
ever — they  are  all  mathematical.  He  would  investi 
gate  the  laws  of  falling  bodies  and  moving  fluids,  and 
know  why  their  motion  is  accelerated  at  different  pe 
riods,  and  upon  what  their  momentum  depends ;  but 
roots,  lines,  squares,  angles,  and  curves  float  before 
him  in  the  mazy  dance  of  a  disturbed  intellect.  The 
very  first  proposition  is  a  mystery ;  and  he  soon  dis 
covers  that  mechanical  philosophy  is  little  better  than 
mathematics  itself.  But  he  still  has  his  senses  ;  he 
will  at  least  not  be  indebted  to  diagrams  and  equa 
tions  for  their  enjoyment.  He  gazes  with  admiration 
upon  the  phenomena  of  light ;  the  many-colored  rain 
bow  upon  the  bosom  of  the  clouds ;  the  clouds  them 
selves,  reflected  with  all  their  changing  shades  from 
the  surface  of  the  quiet  waters.  Whence  comes 
this  beautiful  imagery  ?  He  investigates,  and  finds 
that  every  hue  in  the  rainbow  is  made  by  a  different 
angle  of  refraction  ;  and  that  each  ray  reflected  from 


THE  UTILITY  OF  MATHEMATICS.  125 

the  mirror  has  its  angle  of  incidence  equal  to  its 
angle  of  reflection ;  and  as  he  pursues  the  subject 
further,  in  the  construction  of  lenses  and  telescopes, 
the  whole  family  of  triangles,  ratios,  proportions,  and 
conclusions  arise  to  alarm  his  excited  vision. 

He  turns  to  the  heavens  and  is  charmed  with  its 
shining  host,  moving  in  solemn  procession  through 
the  "  halls  of  the  sky,"  each  star  as  it  rises  and  sets, 
marking  time  on  the  records  of  nature.  He  would 
know  the  structure  of  this  beautiful  system,  and 
search  out,  if  possible,  the  laws  which  regulate  those 
distant  lights.  But  astronomy  forever  banishes  him 
from  her  presence ;  she  will  have  none  near  her  to 
whom  mathematics  is  not,  a  familiar  friend.  What 
can  he  know  of  her  parallaxes,  anomalies,  and  proces 
sions,  who  has  never  studied  the  conic  sections  or 
the  higher  orders  of  analysis  ?  She  sends  him  to 
some  wooden  orrery,  from  which  he  may  gather  as 
much  knowledge  of  the  heavenly  bodies  as  a  child 
does  of  armies  from  the  gilded  troopers  of  the  toy 
shop. 

But  if  he  can  have  no  companionship  with  optics, 
nor  astronomy,  nor  mechanical  philosophy,  there  are 
sciences,  he  thinks,  which  have  better  taste  and  less 
austerity  of  manners.  He  flies  to  chemistry,  and  her 
garments  float  loosely  around  him.  For  a  while  he 
goes  gloriously  on,  illuminated  by  the  red  lights  and 
blue  lights  of  crucibles  and  retorts.  But  soon  he 
comes  to  compound  bodies — to  the  composition  of 
the  elements  around  him,  and  finds  them  all  in  fixed 


126  AMERICAN    EDUCATION. 

relations.  He  finds  that  gases  and  fluids  will  com 
bine  with  each  other,  and  with  solids  only  in  a  cer 
tain  ratio,  and  that  all  possible  compounds  are  formed 
by  nature  in  immutable  proportion.  Then  starts  up 
the  whole  doctrine  of  chemical  equivalents,  and  math 
ematics  again  stares  him  in  the  face.  Affrighted 
he  flies  to  mineralogy  ;  stones  he  may  pick  up,  je  v  els 
he  may  draw  from  the  bosom  of  the  earth,  and  be  no 
longer  alarmed  at  the  stern  visage  of  this  terrible 
science  ;  but  even  here  he  is  not  safe.  The  first 
stone  that  he  finds — quartz,  contains  a  crystal,  and 
that  crystal  assumes  the  dreaded  form  of  geometry. 
Crystallization  allures  him  on  ;  but  as  he  goes,  cubes 
and  hexagons,  pyramids  and  dodecagons,  arise  before 
nim  in  beautiful  array.  He  would  understand  more 
about  them,  but  must  wait  at  the  portal  of  the  tem 
ple,  till  introduced  within  by  that  honored  of  time  and 
science,  our  friendly  Euclid. 

And  now  where  shall  this  student  of  nature  with 
out  the  aid  of  mathematics  go  for  his  knowledge  or 
his  enjoyments  ?  Is  it  to  natural  history  ?  The 
very  birds  cleave  the  air  in  the  form  of  the  cycloid, 
and  mathematics  prove  it  the  best.  Their  feathers 
are  formed  upon  calculated  mechanical  principles  ; 
the  muscles  of  their  frame  are  moved  by  them :  the 
little  bee  has  constructed  his  cell  in  the  very  geomet 
rical  figure  and  with  the  precise  angles  which  mathe 
maticians,  after  ages  of  investigation,  have  demon 
strated  to  be  that  which  contains  the  greatest  economy 
of  space  and  strength.  Yes,  he  who  would  shun  math- 


THE   UTILITY   OF  MATHEMATICS.  127 

ematics  must  fly  the  bounds  of  flaming  space,  and  in 
the  realms  of  chaos,  that 

«  dark, 

Illimitable  ocean," 

where  Milton's  Satan  wandered  from  the  wrath  of 
heaven,  he  may  possibly  find  some  spot  visited  by  no 
figure  of  geometry,  and  no  harmony  of  proportion. 
But  nature,  this  beautiful  creation  of  God,  has  no 
resting-place  for  him.  All  its  construction  is  mathe 
matical  ;  all  its  uses  are  reasonable;  all  its  ends  har 
monious.  It  has  no  elements  mixed  without  regula 
ted  law ;  no  broken  chord  to  make  a  false  note  in 
the  music  of  the  spheres. 

THE  STUDENT  WITH  MATHEMATICS. 

Let  us  take  another  student,  with  whom  mathemat 
ics  is  neither  despised  nor  neglected.  He  sees  in  it 
the  means  of  past  success  to  others  :  he  reads  in  its 
history  the  progress  of  universal  improvement ;  and 
he  believes  that  what  has  contributed  so  much  to  the 
civilization  of  the  world,  what  is  even  now  contrib 
uting  so  much  to  harmonize  society,  and  what  the 
experience  of  all  mankind  has  sanctioned,  may  per 
chance  be  useful  to  his  own  intellectual  develop 
ment.  He  opens  a  volume  of  geometry,  and  steadily, 
but  not  coldly,  pursues  its  abstractions  from  the  defi 
nition  of  a  right  line,  through  the  elegant  properties 
of  the  right-angled  triangle,  the  relations  of  similar 
figures,  and  the  laws  of  curved  surfaces.  He  finds  a 


128  AMERICAN  EDUCATION. 

chain  of  unbroken  and  impregnable  reasoning,  and  is 
at  once  possessed  of  all  the  knowledge  of  postulates, 
syllogisms,  and  conclusions,  which  the  most  accom 
plished  school  of  rhetoric  could  have  taught  him. 
He  looks  upon  society,  and  wherever  he  turns,  arts, 
sciences,  and  their  results,  from  carpentry  to  civil 
engineering,  from  architecture  to  hydraulics,  from 
the  ingenious  lock  upon  a  canal,  to  the  useful  mill 
upon  its  sides,  disclose  their  operations,  no  longer 
mysterious  to  his  enlightened  understanding.  Many 
an  interesting  repository  of  knowledge  this  key  has 
opened  to  his  vision  ;  and  as  he  thus  walks  through 
the  vestibule  of  science,  he  longs  to  penetrate  those 
deep  aisles  and  ascend  that  magnificent  stairway, 
which  lead  up  to  the  structure  of  the  universe. 

With  the  properties  of  the  ellipsis,  the  laws  of  mo 
tion  demonstrated  by  mathematics,  and  two  facts 
drawn  from  observation— the  one,  that  bodies  fall  to 
wards  the  earth,  and  the  other,  the  regular  motion  of 
the  planets — he  demonstrates  beyond  the  power  of  re 
futation,  the  laws  of  the  celestial  system.  He  traces 
star  after  star,  however  eccentric  their  course,  through 
the  unseen  immensity  of  space,  and  calculates,  with 
unfailing  certainty,  the  hour  of  their  return  after  ages 
have  passed  away.  He  does  more,  he  weighs  matter 
in  the  balances  of  creation,  and  finds  that  to  complete 
the  harmony  of  the  system,  a  planet  is  wanting  in 
some  distant  corner  of  its  wide  domain.  No  mortal 
eye  has  ever  seen  it,  no  tradition  tells  of  its  existence  ; 
yet,  with  the  confidence  and  zeal  of  prophecy,  he 


THE   UTILITY  OF  MATHEMATICS.  129 

announces  that  it  must  exist,  for  demonstration  has 
proved  it.  The  prediction  is  recorded  in  the  volume 
of  science.  Long  after,  astronomy,  by  the  aid  of 
mathematics,  discovers  the  long-lost  tenant  of  the 
skies ;  and  fractured  though  it  be,  while  its  members 
perform  their  revolution,  no  living  soul  can  be  per 
mitted  to  doubt  the  worth  of  mathematics,  or  the 
powers  of  his  own  immortal  mind. 

And  what  were  the  glorious  contemplations  of  that 
pupil  of  mathematical  philosophy,  as  he  passed  be 
hind  the  clouds  of  earth  to  investigate  the  machinery 
of  celestial  spheres !  Alone,  yet  not  solitary,  amidst 
the  glowing  lights  of  heaven,  he  sends  his  spirit  forth 
through  the  works  of  God.  He  has  risen  by  the  force 
of  cultivated  intellect  to  heights  which  mortal  fancy 
had  never  reached.  He  has  taken  line  and  figure 
and  measure,  and  from  proposition  to  proposition,  and 
from  conclusion  to  conclusion,  riveting  link  after 
link,  he  has  bound  the  universe  to  the  throne  of  its 
Creator,  by  that 

"  Golden,  everlasting  chain, 
Whose  strong  embrace  holds  heaven  and  earth  and  main." 

And  is  there  no  moral  instruction  in  this?*  Does 
he  learn  no  lesson  of  wisdom  ?  Do  no  strong  emo- 

*  It  has  been  said  "  there  is  no  Christianity  in  mathematics :"  in 
trinsically,  what  is  there,  except  the  Bible  and  the  renewed  heart, 
which  is  Christian  ?  The  Christian  does  not  hesitate  to  eat,  drink, 
clothe,  sow,  and  plant,  like  other  men,  without  once  inquiring  whether 
his  food  or  clothing  be  Christian.  It  is  enough  for  him  that  he  uses 
them  with  Christian  motives  fur  Cliri^'iui  ends.  It  is  necessary  for  a 

i) 


130  AMERICAN   EDUCATION. 

tions  of  love  and  gratitude  arise  towards  that  Being 
who  thus  delights  him  with  the  charms  of  intellectual 
enjoyment,  and  blesses  him  with  the  multiplied  means 
of  happiness  ?  Harder  than  the  adamant  of  his  own 
reasoning,  colder  than  the  abstractions  in  which  hs 
is  falsely  supposed  to  move,  must  be  he  who  thus 
conducted  by  the  handmaid  of  the  arts  and  sciences, 
through  whatever  humanizes  man — through  whatever 
is  sublime  in  his  progress  to  a  higher  state— through 
all  the  vast  machinery  which  the  Almighty  has  made 
tributary  to  his  comfort  and  his  happiness — yet  feels 
no  livlier  sentiment  of  duty  towards  him,  no  kinder 
or  more  peaceful  spirit  towards  his  fellowr-man.  We 

Christian,  in  the  fulfilment  of  his  duty,  to  cultivate  the  energies  of  both 
body  and  mind.  He  uses  food  and  exercise,  temperate  in  all  things, 
for  the  former ;  and  shall  he  not  use  mathematics  for  the  latter  ?  Is 
there  not  too  frequently  a  mistake  made  in  distinguishing  between 
means  and  ends  ?  And  do  not  some  persons  suppose  that  the  world 
is  to  be  Christianized  by  some  direct  interference  of  providence,  inde 
pendent  of  human  means  ?  If  the  latter  are  to  be  used,  then  are  the 
mathematical  sciences  among  the  most  powerful  ever  brought  to  bear 
upon  the  human  mind.  They  who  deny  this,  know  very  little  either 
of  the  science  itself,  or  of  its  connection  with  the  civilization  and  con 
sequent  moral  refinement  of  the  world.  How  much  has  the  modern 
astronomy  alone  done  to  exhibit  and  illustrate  the  glorious  attributes 
of  the  Creator '  How  much  has  the  improvement  in  naval  architec 
ture  done  to  facilitate  the  progress  of  the  Gospel  among  pagan  nations ! 
Would  the  missionary  cross  the  Pacific  in  a  birch-bark  canoe  ?  How 
much  have  the  improvements,  even  in  the  science  of  war,  produced  by 
mathematics  done  to  establish  the  dominion  and  consequent  influence 
of  Christian  over  uncivilized  nations  !— See  the  British  Empire  in 
India ;  the  open  ports  of  China ;  the  Sandwich  Islands,  and  the  Aus 
tralian  Colonies  I 


THE  UTILITY  OF  MATHEMATICS.  131 

have  now  traced  many  of  the  most  useful  arts  and 
sciences  to  the  knowledge  of  mathematics ;  we  have 
seen  that  it  contributes  to  the  most  necessary  and 
practical  operations  of  society ;  and  we  have  further 
seen  that  we  cannot  understand  the  works  of  nature, 
nor  commune  with  the  Almighty,  in  the  sublimest  por 
tion  of  his  creation,  without  the  aid  of  this  benign  and 
civilizing  science. 

But  if  mathematics  be  a  part  of  education  in 
general,  there  are  some  reasons  why  it  is  peculiarly 
so  in  a  \vell-devised  system  of  education  in  the  West. 
Education  must  adapt  itself  to  the  wants  of  the 
people.  It  must  be  that  which  draws  the  treasures 
from  the  earth  as  well  as  the  blessing  from  the  heav 
en.  Now  after  fixing  the  general  subjects  of  instruc 
tion,  the  first  inquiry  is,  What  will  the  next  generation 
in  this  country  need  ?  How  are  they  to  be  engaged  ? 
What  are  to  be  the  effects  of  their  business  ?  I  an 
swer,  that  aside  from  the  cultivation  of  Christian 
benevolence,  their  pursuits  and  the  improvements 
they  aim  at  will  be  in  those  arts  and  sciences  which 
are  physical ;  it  will  not  be  a  matter  of  choice  with 
them.  It  arises  from  the  necessity  of  their  condi 
tion.  And  if  it  be  so,  then  is  the  science  of  which 
we  are  speaking,  of  ail  others  the  best  calculated  for 
facilitating  their  progress.  Let  us  glance  at  the  ex 
isting  state  of  things  in  the  region  of  the  Ohio  and 
the  Mississippi.  We  are  a  young  people — a  thrifty 
plant,  it  is  true,  grafted  by  knowledge  with  the  best 
fruit  of  the  wise  and  ancient  world ;  yet  a  small 


132  AMERICAN   EDUCATION. 

plant,  scarcely  risen  above  the  green  grass  of  our 
beautiful  prairies.  Our  population  has  hardly  begun  : 
here  and  there  you  find  a  mart  of  commerce  and 
civilization  ;  and  you  read  of  the  millions  within  the 
borders  of  Ohio,  as  of  a  vast  multitude :  yet  within 
that  very  state  you  may  travel  fifty  miles  with  but 
little  appearance  of  cultivation,  and  when  you  come 
to  take  an  accurate  view  of  it,  you  find  the  forest 
scarcely  broken  by  the  dwellings  of  man.  If  you 
pass  to  Wisconsin,  the  native  of  the  woods  is  there 
to  tell  you  that  the  wilderness  has  not  passed  away. 
On  the  plains  of  Iowa  it  is  the  same  ;  and  if  you  go 
beyond  the  Mississippi,  the  traveller  may  wander 
five  hundred  miles  within  an  organized  territory  with 
out  meeting  a  cabin.  Yet  this  is  all  a  region  of 
arable  land — rich  in  the  resources  of  nature,  yielding 
whatever  adds  to  physical  enjoyment  or  rational  con 
templation.  It  will  therefore  in  time  be  populous. 
It  will  go  on  as  it  has  done,  to  speak  mathematically, 
in  geometrical  progression,  doubling  from  period  to 
period.  I  am  no  optimist,  no  gilder  of  futurity  in  the 
hues  of  imagination;  and  it  requires  no  aid  from 
fancy,  or  even  calculation  from  arithmetic,  to  know 
that  the  shores  of  the  Ohio  and  the  Mississippi  will 
be  crowded  a  century  or  two  hence  with  a  mass  of 
humanity,  dense  as  that  which  looks  upon  the  waters 
of  the  Rhine  and  the  Ganges.  The  generations 
which  pass  from  this  to  that  period,  like  our  own,  are 
preparatory.  They  are  to  build  the  physical  as  well 
as  moral  temple  for  the  habitation  of  posterity.  And 


THE   UTILITY  OF  MATHEMATICS.  133 

where  are  we  ?  Standing  at  the  corner-stone,  laying 
the  very  foundation.  And  what  shall  these  interme 
diate  millions  do  ?  Shall  they  not  appeal  to  the  full 
storehouse  of  nature  ?  And  shall  they  not  call  sci 
ence  to  unlock  their  doors  ?  They  will  do  so,  because 
they  must.  The  resources  of  the  land  must  be  de 
veloped  before  the  mass  of  the  people  can  cultivate 
the  charms  of  taste  or  the  refinements  of  speculative 
philosophy.  They  will  first  look  to  the  products  of 
the  soil.  They  will  go  to  your  salt-springs  and  bore 
the  earth  for  that  necessary  of  life,  and  they  will  call 
upon  the  mechanic  for  forcing-pumps  and  lifting  ma 
chinery  ;  and  he  will  call  upon  mathematics  to  aid 
him  in  economizing  time  and  labor.  They  will  open 
your  coal-banks,  and  look  to  the  mechanic  arts  to  aid 
them  in  its  transportation  ;  and  in  the  mines  of  iron 
and  lead,  and  copper,  gold,  and  quicksilver,  they  will 
need  geometry  as  well  as  chemistry  to  aid  them  in 
mining  and  smelting.  They  will  send  engineers  to  con 
struct  vast  bridges  over  those  noble  streams,  and  to  lay 
the  track  of  that  magnificent  highway  which  is  to  con 
nect  the  Atlantic  with  the  Pacific,  and  make  a  path 
for  the  nations  as  they  still  roll  on  to  the  interminable 
West !  And  in  all  these  operations  mathematics  will 
be  the  active  agent  and  kind  assistant ;  and  as  it  helps 
others,  it  will  help  itself  to  increase,  still  propelling 
the  wheels  of  knowledge,  till,  with  the  light,  they  have 
rolled  round  the  circle  of  the  earth. 

And  in  this  great  work  who  has  the  responsibility 
and  the  honor  more  than  the  teacher  ?     Cicero  de- 


134  AMERICAN   EDUCATION. 

manded  for  his  client,  the  Poet  Archias,  the  citizen 
ship  of  Rome,  not  because  it  was  his  legally,  but  be 
cause  he  had  done  that  for  which  the  republic  owed 
him  everlasting  gratitude.  "  He  has  given  you/'  said 
he,  "  those  intellectual  gifts  which  nourish  youth,  de 
light  age,  adorn  fortune,  and  soften  adversity ;"  and 
to  do  this  is  the  office  of  the  teacher.  Let  him  who 
is  worthy  in  that  calling  be  honored  by  the  praises  of 
the  good  and  the  gratitude  of  the  republic 


CHAPTER    VII. 

THE  UTILITY  OF  ASTRONOMY. 

IN  the  fourth  day  of  the  creation  God  made  the 
stars ;  he  set  them  in  the  firmament  of  heaven,  so 
that  from  every  part  of  the  material  universe  light 
fell  upon  the  earth.  He  made  them  shine  forever, 
that  while  this  globe  continues  to  circle  on  its  axis, 
each  falling  ray  should  be  a  recording  hand  to  write 
upon  its  circumference  the  passage  of  time  to  eter 
nity  !  There  was  then  no  human  voice  to  praise  the 
mighty  work ;  but  there  was  music  in  the  skies ;  the 
morning  stars  sang  together,  and  the  sons  of  God 
shouted  for  joy  !* 

*  The  passage  from  which  this  idea  was  taken  is  from  the  4th  to 
the  7th  verses  inclusive  of  the  38th  chapter  of  Job.  The  whole  of  it 
is  this :  "  Where  wast  thou  when  I  laid  the  foundations  of  the  earth  ? 


THE  UTILITY  OF  ASTRONOMY.  1,35 

Man  was  yet  in  the  silent  dust:  God  breathed 
upon  it,  and  man  became  a  living  soul.  He  was 
made  erect,  with  his  countenance  upturned  to  heav 
en,  that  while  he  walked  upon  the  earth  he  might 
behold  those  glorious  messengers  of  the  Creator  roll 
ing  their  chariots  of  light  through  the  skies  from 
morn  till  night,  from  night  till  morn,  immutable  in 
law,  unshaken  in  their  courses,  undirninished  in 
power.  From  age  to  age  they  have  continued  to 
shine ;  from  age  to  age  man  has  gazed  and  marvelled 
at  the  sight ;  and  yet  they  beam  as  brightly  upon  the 
last  eyes  opened  upon  earth,  as  upon  those  which 
first  looked  out  upon  the  bloom  of  creation.  Forever 
fresh,  forever  shining,  forever  rolling — eternal  power 
their  source,  eternal  light  their  element ! 

On  the  plains  of  Chaldea  Job  saw  them,  and  in 
midnight  meditations  marked  their  wandering  con 
stellations  careering  through  the  firmament ;  on  Ju- 
dah's  hills  David  looked  up,  wondered  at  the  sight, 


declare,  if  thou  hast  understanding.  Who  hath  laid  the  measures 
thereof,  if  thou  knowest  ?  or  who  hath  stretched  the  line  upon  it  ? 
Whereupon  are  the  foundations  thereof  fastened  ?  or  who  laid  the 
corner-stone  thereof,  when  the  morning  stars  sang  together,  and  all 
the  sons  of  God  shouted  for  joy  ?" 

This  passage  intimates  two  things  :  1st,  That  there  was  no  man  in 
being  when  the  foundations  of  the  earth  were  laid ;  and,  2d,  That  the 
stars  were  then  in  being,  and  another  race  of  beings  called  the  sons  of 
God.  The  harmony  of  the  stars  and  their  perfect  system  is  the  foun 
dation,  without  doubt,  of  the  metaphorical  phrase,  "  sang  together." 
The  intelligent  beings  then  existing  also  rejoiced  in  the  progress  of 
the  work  of  creation. 


]36  AMERICAN   EDUCATION. 

struck  his  harp  to  notes  of  praise,  and  poured  them 
into  the  songs  of  Israel.  By  the  waters  of  Euphrates 
the  Babylonian  saw  that  host  of  heaven  pass  before 
him,  and  mistaking  the  creature  for  the  Creator,  wor 
shipped  it  on  the  false  altars  of  Baal.  The  Persian, 
too,  transferring  the  worship  from  the  sun  to  the  fire, 
bowed  down  under  the  open  skies  to  the  coals  upon 
the  altar,  as  the  life  and  image  of  the  stars  above. 
The  Egyptian  marked  the  seasons  by  the  signs  of  the 
zodiac,  and  recorded  them  on  the  ancient  monuments 
of  Thebes.  The  Greek,  the  Roman,  the  Hindoo,  the 
Christian,  the  men  of  every  age  and  every  nation, 
have  gazed  upon  those  wandering  fires  above,  and, 
gazing,  been  fixed  with  astonishment,  filled  with  ad 
miration,  and  made  silent  with  awe ! 

When  the  great  light  of  day  sinks  beneath  the  ho 
rizon,  the  portals  of  heaven  open  wider  to  your  vision. 
Ten  thousand  suns  come  out  from  the  dark  firmament 
behind :  each  seems  but  a  little  light,  twinkling  for  a 
moment.  You  watch  it,  and  its  light  never  ceases  ; 
it  comes,  and  comes  continually ;  its  rays  fall,  but 
never  stop.  You  look  upon  that  light  as  the  traveller 
upon  the  rocks  of  Niagara  looks  upon  that  world  of 
rolling  waters ;  it  flows,  and  flows,  and  flow's  on  for 
ever  !  The  light  comes,  and  comes,  shining  and 
gliding  on,  like  the  spirit  of  man  towards  some  vast, 
distant,  unknown,  untold  eternity  ! 

This  work  of  the  fourth  day  of  creation  is  not 
merely  the  admiration  of  prophets  and  philosophers  ; 
but  it  is  one  of  the  most  instructive  subjects  of  con- 


THE  UTILITY  OF  ASTRONOMY.  137 

templation,  and  therefore  one  of  the  best  topics  of  a 
broad  and  useful  education. 

ASTRONOMY  is  derived  (as  a  term)  from  the  two 
words,  aster  and  nomos,  the  first  signifying  a  star, 
and  the  second  a  law.  Astronomy  may  therefore 
be  defined,  the  law  of  the  stars.  It  comprehends, 
however,  all  that  relates  to  the  different  bodies  in  the 
system  of  the  universe,  and  the  material  laws  by 
which  they  are  governed  and  sustained.  I  shall  con 
sider  here  both  the  practical  use  of  astronomy,  and 
the  effect  of  its  theory,  in  the  improvement  of  the  hu 
man  mind. 

ASTRONOMY  DETERMINES  TIME. 

The  first  and  the  greatest  use  of  astronomical  ob 
servations  is  declared  in  the  first  chapter  of  Genesis : 
"  And  God  said,  Let  there  be  lights  in  the  firmament 
of  heaven,  to  divide  the  day  from  the  night ;  and  let 
them  be  for  signs,  and  for  seasons,  and  for  days,  and 
for  years." 

Imagine,  if  you  can,  a  world  inhabited  by  finite  and 
mortal  beings,  without  time !  Such  a  world  would 
have  been  ours,  if  the  rising  and  the  setting  of  the 
stars  had  not  cut  off  from  infinite  space,  and  marked 
on  the  visible  horizon,  those  small  measures  which  we 
call  time.  Space  is  the  measure  of  time ;  and  the 
idea  of  infinite  space  is  the  idea  of  eternity.  Space 
can  be  made  definite  only  by  motion :  he  who  at 
tempts  to  measure  space  only  by  the  eye,  will  mis 
take  a  foot  for  a  furlong,  and  a  furlong  for  a  mile. 


138  AMERICAN   EDUCATION. 

There  is  no  measure  of  space  but  by  motion ;  and 
there  is  no  record  of  time  but  by  space.  It  follows, 
then,  that  to  give  the  idea  of  time  at  all,  there  must 
be  bodies  moving  continually  through  the  vacuity  of 
space.  It  follows,  also,  that  there  must  be  more  than 
one  body  so  moving ;  for  it  is  only  by  the  transition 
of  those  bodies,  passing  one  another  at  regular  and 
continuous  intervals,  that  we  get  by  relative  motion 
an  accurate  idea  of  time.  The  revolution  of  the 
earth  on  its  axis  determines  our  day ;  but  it  is  only 
by  the  existence  of  other  bodies,  which  appear  to  as 
cend  and  descend  from  the  horizon,  that  we  have  the 
least  idea  of  such  a  period  of  time.  So  also  it  is  by 
the  relative  motion  of  still  other  bodies,  that  we  get 
correct  ideas  of  the  year  and  its  seasons.  These 
stars,  then,  by  their  relative  motions,  divide  space, 
and  space  determines  time. 

Had  there  been,  then,  in  the  councils  of  Infinite 
Wisdom,  no  other  reason  for  the  creation  of  stars  than 
this,  it  would  have  been  enough.  It  is  enough,  that 
in  the  vast  vacuity  of  space  there  was  created  a  world 
of  innumerable  beings,  for  whose  happiness  it  was  ne 
cessary  to  give,  by  the  records  of  time,  the  idea  of  a 
finite,  fleeting,  and  mortal  life !  It  is  in  contempla 
tions  such  as  these  we  can  realize  the  solemn  decla 
ration  of  holy  history,  that  one  great  use  of  those 
glowing  orbs  was,  that  they  might  "  be  for  signs,  for 
seasons,  for  days,  and  for  years." 

Nor  was  man  dull  to  perceive  or  slow  to  under 
stand  these  significant  records  of  passing  time,  as 


THE  UTILITY   OF  ASTRONOMY.  139 

they  were,  one  by  one,  written  with  a  pencil  of  light 
on  the  face  of  creation.  No  sooner  had  men  looked 
upwards  than  they  noted  these  transitions  of  the 
heavenly  bodies,  and  measured  their  own  history  by 
those  revolutions.  There  is  no  memory  of  man 
which  goes  so  far  back,  that  certain  fixed  methods  of 
measuring  time  by  observations  on  celestial  objects 
were  riot  known.  These  bodies  were  no  sooner 
placed  in  the  firmament  than  they  became  what  they 
were  appointed  for,  dividing  signs  between  day  and 
day,  month  and  month,  and  year  and  year. 

In  the  temperate  zone,  where  man  was  first  placed, 
the  most  obvious  of  all  divisions  is  that  made  by  the 
setting  and  rising  of  the  sun  and  stars  on  the  horizon. 
The  day  thus  became  the  first  measure  of  time.  The 
seventh  day  marked  a  fourth  part  of  the  lunar  revo 
lution.  It  was  also  the  day  of  sacred  rest,  and  has 
thus  been  handed  down  through  the  whole  descent  of 
the  human  family,  by  commandment,  by  observance, 
and  by  tradition,  in  perpetual  memorial  of  the  crea 
tion.  The  lunar  revolution  made  the  month,  and  the 
solar  revolution  the  year.  Thus  there  is  no  measure 
of  time  known  to  us,  which  is  not  either  a  unit,  or  an 
exact  proportional  part  of  the  great  and  visible  revo 
lutions,  regularly  performed  in  our  planetary  system. 

When  these  divisions  were  earliest  made  and  re 
corded  as  time,  no  history  informs  us.  Why  may  we 
not  suppose  them  to  have  occurred  to  the  first  man, 
and  by  him  have  been  transmitted  through  successive 
generations  ? 


140  AMERICAN   EDUCATION. 

It  is  in  these  terms  of  time,  the  inspired  historian  of 
the  Hebrews  has  recorded,  in  the  only  history  of  the 
early  ages  of  the  world,  the  chronology  of  the  antedi 
luvian  patriarchs.  In  those  times,  he  has  recorded 
the  very  day,  and  month,  and  year,  in  which  the  del 
uge  occurred.  It  was  in  the  seventeenth  day,  of  the 
second  month,  of  the  six-hundredth  year  of  Noah. 
This  chronology  has  been  subjected  to  the  severest 
criticism  of  science,  of  history,  and  of  human  reason. 
Yet,  neither  the  traditions  of  the  oldest  nations,  ijie 
monuments  of  the  most  aged  ruins,  the  authentic  rec 
ords  of  the  most  remote  antiquity,  nor  the  profound- 
est  researches  of  science  herself,  have  been  able  to 
throw  a  reasonable  doubt  on  the  accuracy  of  the  an 
tediluvian  dates.*  It  is  thus  that  yonder  orbs  of  light 


*  There  have  been  various  and  very  ingenious  attempts  to  invali 
date  the  chronology  of  the  Bible,  especially  in  relation  to  two  facts : 
the  duration  of  the  human  race  on  earth,  and  the  deluge  of  Noah. 
Geology  has  been  used  as  an  instrument  for  this  purpose.  But,  so 
far  as  relates  to  the  race  of  man,  it  has  furnished  no  fact  contrary  to 
the  biblical  chronology.  Its  facts,  so  far  as  they  relate  to  time  at  all, 
bear  only  on  the  structure  of  the  earth  and  the  lower  order  of  animals. 

There  was  a  time,  however,  when  astronomy  itself  threatened  to 
overturn  all  our  received  chronology.  This  was  at  the  close  of  the 
eighteenth  century,  by  the  discovery  of  the  East  Indian,  or  Hindoo 
astronomical  tables,  professing  to  give  the  position  of  the  heavenly 
bodies,  at  a  period  anterior  to  the  deluge.  These  were  accompanied 
by  the  histories  and  affirmations  of  the  Hindoos,  that  their  origin  went 
back  to  a  date  far  more  remote  than  our  Christian  annals.  The  bold 
production  of  astronomical  tables  to  establish  a  date  in  antiquity  was 
certainly  a  strong  attack  on  the  authenticity  of  our  chronology.  It 
was  hardly  possible  to  present  the  attack  in  a  more  plausible  shape. 


THE  UTILITY  OF  ASTRONOMY.  141 

have  become  the  historians  alike  of  nature  and  of 
man.     Their   record   is  ineffaceable  from  creation. 


It  must  be  admitted,  that  if  the  Hindoo  system  of  astronomy  could 
be  established  as  originating  at  the  time  claimed,  and  demonstrated 
on  astronomical  grounds,  it  would  be  the  strongest  argument  against 
biblical  chronology,  and  in  favor  of  Hindoo  antiquity,  which  the  an 
nals  of  science  or  of  literature  could  furnish.  This  Hindoo  astronomy, 
found  in  the  tables  of  Tirvalore,  was  seized  upon  by  M.  Bailly,  a 
French  mathematician,  with  great  avidity.  In  his  Traite  de  I'Astro- 
nomie  Indienne  et  Orientate,  he  founded  a  theory,  that  there  had  once 
been  an  immense  and  learned  nation  which  flourished  some  thou 
sands  of  years  before  our  most  ancient  accounts,  and  that  these  tables 
were  a  part  of  the  wreck  of  an  astronomical  system  !  Such  theories 
have  a  great  effect  on  the  human  imagination,  where  the  mind  is  not 
firmly  based  in  a  belief  in  the  truths  of  the  Bible  an  they  arc  written. 
It  is  one  of  the  most  remarkable  facts  in  literature,  that  the  Edinburgh 
Encyclopedia,  compiled  by  learned  men,  adopted  this  theory,  and 
contains  the  record  of  its  faith,  in  the  article  Astronomy,  vol.  ,3,  page 
550.  Professor  Playfair  also  supported  it.  But  it  was  doomed  to 
meet  with  strong  opposition,  and  final  defeat  when  least  expected. 
La  Place  declared,  the  Tirvalore  tables  were  invented  "  for  the  pur 
pose  of  giving  a  common  place  in  the  zodiac  to  all  the  motions  of  the 
heavenly  bodies,  and  that  they  were  constructed  or  invented  in  mod 
ern  times."  Even  Voltaire,  in  whose  time  Bailly  first  announced 
his  theory,  expressed  his  doubts  of  its  truth. 

The  mode  in  which  the  question  was  solved  was  a  curious  one.  A 
volume  of  Hindoo  astronomical  tables  was  subsequently  discovered, 
which  the  Hindoos  believed  to  be  inspired.  From  these  tables  Mr. 
Bentley  drew  a  deduction,  which  completely  disproved  their  supposed 
great  antiquity.  As  these  tables  gave  the  astronomical  calculations 
for  a  great  length  of  time,  there  seemed  an  easy  way  of  ascertaining 
their  date.  From  these  Hindoo  tables  the  calculation  was  made  of 
the  position  of  the  heavenly  bodies  for  the  present  time.  Then  their 
true  position  was  ascertained  by  the  European  tables.  From  these 


142  AMERICAN   EDUCATION. 

Their  circuits  through  their  orbits  are  no  more  certain 
than  the  certainty  they  have  given  to  every  measure 

two  results  it  was  calculated,  at  what  time  the  position  of  the  sun, 
moon,  and  planets,  was  the  same  according  to  both  sets  of  tables.  It 
is  plain  there  must  be  such  a  time ;  and  that  time  was,  when  the 
Hindoo  astronomer  made  his  observations  and  calculations ;  for  it  is 
manifest,  that  he  or  any  other  observer,  whether  he  proceeded  on 
true  or  false  systems,  would  give  the  true  position  of  the  heavenly 
bodies  at  the  time  he  observed  them.  The  true  tables  would  of 
course  give  it.  The  time  at  which  both  coincided  would  be  the  dem 
onstrated  time  at  which  the  Hindoo  calculation  was  made.  This  was 
ascertained  to  be  about  seven  hundred  years  before  Mr.  Bentley's  cal 
culation,  or  about  the  beginning  of  the  twelfth  century  of  the  Chris 
tian  era. 

Another  mode  of  calculation  was  this :  The  position  of  the  planets 
was  given,  when  Rama,  the  hero  of  an  Indian  epic  poem,  reached  his 
twenty-first  year.  That  period  was  found  by  calculation  to  be  961 
years  before  Christ.  None  of  these  positions  could  be  traced  more 
than  1800  years  before  Christ,  or  long  after  the  time  of  Abraham,  and 
it  was  clearly  settled  that  the  date  of  the  system  was  only  700  years 
since !  Yet,  the  reader  should  recollect,  that  this  very  book  was 
dated  by  the  Brahmins  some  millions  of  years  since ! 

This  was  the  most  plausible,  and  apparently  the  most  irresistible 
argument  ever  advanced  against  the  accuracy  of  the  Christian  chro 
nology.  It  proves  that  even  a  forged  science  is  inadequate  to  over 
come  the  supremacy  of  truth.  A  brief  account  of  these  investigations 
will  be  found  in  Dr.  Wiseman's  Lectures,  a  work  which  contains  some 
knowledge  not  easily  found  in  any  other  book,  and  which  should  be 
possessed  by  every  student  who  would  understand  the  relations  be 
tween  religion  and  science.  Those  relations  are  most  beautiful  and 
most  mysterious.  It  required  the  power,  the  metaphysical  or  moral 
power,  which  the  influence  and  studies  of  Christianity  communicated 
to  the  human  mind,  in  order  fully  to  develop  the  laws  of  science ;  but 
when  those  laws  were  developed,  they  shed  a  retroactive  and  radiated 
light  over  the  foundation  truths  of  our  holy  religion. 


THE  UTILITY   OF  ASTRONOMY.  143 

of  duration  in  human  transactions.  It  was  then  the 
stars  became  the  measure  of  time,  and  were  placed 
in  the  firmament  for  signs,  for  seasons,  and  for 
years ! 


LIGHT  AND  ITS  THEORY. 

The  second  great  practical  use  of  astronomy  is 
also  indicated  in  the  book  of  Genesis.  After  it  was 
said,  that  the  stars  were  to  be  a  measure  of  time,  it 
is  further  said,  that  "  they  shall  be  for  lights  in  the 
firmament  of  heaven  to  give  light  upon  the  earth." 
In  truth,  the  first  astronomical  observation  made  by 
the  eye,  must  have  been  that  which  determined  the 
fact,  that  the  sun  and  stars  were  the  source  of  light, 
and  that  when  they  disappeared,  even  for  a  time, 
there  was  darkness  visible.  A  succession  of  these 
observations  also  proved,  that  light  and  heat  were 
also  connected ;  and  again,  that  on  these  great  prin 
ciples  depended  the  germination,  growth,  verdure, 
and  fruit-bearing  of  every  plant  and  tree  upon  earth. 
Even  the  solid  elements  of  earth  seemed  to  owe  them 
allegiance.  Life  was  traced  to  light,  and  light  to  the 
stars.  Thus  they  were  supposed  to  hold  influence 
over  the  spirit  of  man.  The  dark  astrologer,  in  a 
darker  age,  naturally  enough  traced  the  lines  of  hu 
man  destiny  on  the  map  of  the  stars,  and  by  his  theory 
made  human  life  to  ebb  and  flow  with  their  motions, 
as  science  has  since  proved  the  tides  to  do  with  those 
of  the  moon.  Light  was  the  one  great  germinal  ele- 


144  AMERICAN  EDUCATION. 

ment  of  nature,  as  much  identified  with  every  sun 
and  planet,  as  mind  with  every  intelligent  man. 
Hence  the  progress  of  astronomy  was  almost  identi 
cal  with  progress  in  knowledge  of  the  laws  and  uses 
of  light.  The  history  of  one  is  almost  the  history  of 
the  other. 

It  was  in  the  pursuit  of  the  theory  of  light,  that 
some  of  the  most  remarkable  and  most  brilliant  phe 
nomena  of  the  heavens  have  been  explained  by  the 
direct  laws  of  astronomy.  It  was  observation  on  the 
different  appearances  of  the  sun  and  stars,  rising  and 
setting,  which  discovered  and  demonstrated  the  the 
ory  of  atmospherical  refraction.  By  this  was  ex 
plained  the  wonderful  phenomena  of  twilight.  It 
told  why  the  rays  of  the  departed  orbs  of  heaven  con 
tinued,  like  the  works  of  immortal  genius,  to  linger 
round  the  world  they  had  left ;  why  they  continued 
to  fill  the  horizon  with  cloud-built  palaces,  beautiful 
as  the  visions  of  hope ;  and  painted  them,  like  imagi 
nation,  with  many  colored  hues  ! 

It  was  the  sun  whose  slanting  rays,  falling  upon 
the  dropping  rain,  produced  the  attractive  curve  and 
inimitable  colors  of  the  rainbow.  It  was  observation 
on  these  which  resulted  in  the  development  and  dem 
onstration  of  the  principles  of  reflected  and  refracted 
light,  upon  which  the  arch  was  formed. 

It  was  in  perfecting  the  telescope  as  an  astronomi 
cal  instrument,  while  he  was  grinding  lenses,  and 
while  yet  a  young  man,  that  Newton  discovered  the 
refrangibility  of  light ;  by  which  he  separated  its 


THE  UTILITY  OF  ASTRONOMY.  145 

rays,  transformed  them  into  the  prismatic  colors,  and 
recomposed  these  colors  back  into  light !  Finally,  it 
was  these  discoveries  in  the  nature  and  power  of 
light,  themselves  introduced  by  astronomical  discov 
eries,  which  aided  the  astronomers  in  perfecting 
optical  instruments,  enabled  Newton  and  Herschel 
to  continue  their  discoveries,  and  which  has  brought 
our  astronomicalsocieties,  emerging  from  the  bosom 
of  a  new  natioflfmto  being;  and  which  may  ena 
ble  them,  in  some  future  time,  to  crown  the  peace 
ful  victories  of  republicanism  with  the  laurels  of 
science. 

It  is  thus  that  light  has  illumined  the  works  of  phy 
sical  creation,  advanced  the  boundaries  of  knowledge, 
lit  up  the  chamber  of  the  human  soul,  and  given  to 
poetry  its  sublimest  images.  It  was  this  LIGHT,  which, 
in  some  glorious  scene  of  the  East,  inspired  the  Gre 
cian  Homer  to  ping : 

"  As  when  the  moon,  refulgent  lamp  of  night, 
O'er  heaven's  clear  azure  spreads  her  sacred  light, 
When  not  a  breath  disturbs  the  deep  serene, 
And  not  a  cloud  o'ercasts  the  solemn  scene ; 
Around  her  throne  the  vivid  planets  roll, 
And  stars  unnurnber'd  gild  the  glowing  pole, 
O'er  the  dark  trees  a  yellower  verdure  shed, 
And  tip  with  silver  every  mountain's  head ; 
Then  shine  the  vales,  the  rocks  in  prospect  rise, 
A  flood  of  glory  bursts  from  all  the  skies ; 
The  conscious  swains,  rejoicing  in  the  sight, 
Eye  the  blue  vault,  and  bless  the  useful  light." 

It  is  in  scenes  such  as  these,  we  realize  that  the 
10 


146  AMERICAN  EDUCATION. 

stars  were  placed  in  the  firmament  of  heaven  to  dis 
tribute  light*  on  earth  and  in  the  universe. 

ASTRONOMY  DETERMINES  THE   FORM  OF  THE   EARTH. 

The  third  most  obvious  use  of  astronomy  was  in 
extending  the  knowledge  of  the  surface,  dimensions, 
and  composition  of  the  planet  on^vhich  we  live. 
With  this  knowledge  was  also  ext <Sfel  the  bounda- 


*  The  term   "  distribute "    is  here   used   purposely,  in  order  to 
avoid  any  controversy  about  the  source,  origin,  or  duration  of  light. 
The  stars,  as  a  matter  of  fact,  do  distribute  light.      Light  apparently 
comes  from  them  to  us,  whether  it  be  a  real  emission  from  them,  or 
whether  it  be  reflected  as  coming  from  some  common  source  or  de 
pository  of  light  in  the  heavens.      The  origin  and  precise  character 
of  light  will  be  the   last  discovery  of  science,  if  indeed  it  be   ever 
made.     Should  natural  philosophers  succeed  in  identifying  light,  elec 
tricity,  magnetism,  and  heat,  as  being  the  same  in  principle,  or  as  dif 
ferent  modifications  of  the  same  pervading  principle  of  nature,  then 
beyond  a  doubt  another  fact  will  be  established  :   that  is,  that  light, 
like  heat,  may  be  latent— that  is,  the  principle  may  be  existent  and 
present  without  being,  what  we  regard  as  the  essential  characteristic 
of  light,  visible.      Its  being  visible  may  depend  on  certain  modifica 
tions  of  other  principles,  with  which  we  are  totally  unacquainted. 
The  man  whose  sight  is  obstructed  by  the  film  called  cataract,  sees 
no  light ;   but  when  the  cataract  is  removed  the  light  is  visible.      In 
this  instance  we  know  the  cause.    When  the  sun  goes  down  and  night 
comes  on,  we  think  we  know  that  the  sun  gave  light,  and  darkness 
conies  because  that  light  is  obscured.      But  even  if  this  be  true,  we 
know  not  whether  the  sun  really  gives  the  light,  or  whence  it  comes, 
or  what  is  its  elementary  character.      This  is  still  a  mysterious  ques 
tion.     Philosophy  has  approached  it  very  nearly,  and  doubtless  some 
further  discoveries  are  to  be  made. 


THE  UTILITY  OF  ASTRONOMY.  147 

ries  of  civilization,  and  the  number  of  ideas  included 
within  the  circumference  of  human  thought.  This 
grew  out  of  the  intimate  connection  between  astron 
omy  and  geography.  That  connection  is  founded  on 
the  fact,  that  it  is  astronomy  which  teaches  and  de 
monstrates  that  the  earth  is  a  globe.  It  was  from  the 
properties  of  a  globe  in  form  and  matter  as  thus  de 
monstrated,  was  deduced  the  true  idea  of  its  nature 
and  magnitude ;  it  was  this  idea  which  gave  courage 
to  adventure,  success  to  discovery,  extension  to  com 
merce,  dominion  to  power,  resources  to  art,  and,  by 
the  colonization  of  before  unknown  \ands,  food  to  un 
numbered  millions  of  the  human  race  in  the  past, 
and  unborn  generations  in  the  future !  Why  was  it 
that  to  Thebes,  and  Rome,  and  Athens,  clouds  and 
darkness  rested  on  two-thirds  the  surface  of  our 
earth  ?  Could  not  the  art  which  built  the  pyramids, 
the  glory  which  flourished  in  the  house  of  the  Caesars, 
nor  that  inventive  genius  which  sparkled  out  from 
the  hills  of  Attica,  open  up  to  the  eyes  of  wondering 
men  the  sealed  mystery  of  the  ocean  ?  Why  was  it 
that  the  Atlantic  and  the  Pacific,  with  their  embo 
somed  continents  and  their  ten  thousand  islands,  were 
unknown  to  all  classic  fame  ?  Why  was  it  the 
Greeks  talked  of  their  tost  Atlantis,  but  never  found 
it  ?  This  grand  fact  of  history  can  only  be  accounted 
for  by  the  other  fact,  that  the  most  intelligent  men  of 
science,  even  in  the  Augustan  age,  were  so  ignorant 
of  the  true  form  and  magnitude  of  the  earth  and  its 
astronomical  relations  to  the  face  of  the  heavens, 


148  AMERICAN  EDUCATION. 

that  curiosity  remained  unexcited,  and  no  courage 
was  given  to  the  hopes  of  discovery.  The  Hindoo 
sacred  books  considered  the  foundation  of  the  earth 
as  something  very  much  like  a  great  pancake,  out  of 
which  grew  up,  in  some  unaccountable  manner,  our 
land  and  its  inhabitants  !  The  Greeks,  prior  to  the 
time  of  Ptolemy,  viewed  the  habitable  world  as  a 
circular  plane,  surrounded  by  the  River  Ocean.  This 
idea  Herodotus,  the  historian  and  traveller,  contra 
dicted  by  his  own  observations.  In  the  trial  of  Anax- 
imander,  one  of  the  earliest  of  the  Greek  astrono 
mers,  certain  rough  maps  and  nautical  charts  were 
made,  by  which  the  early  Greek  colonies  established 
themselves  in  the  islands  of  the  Mediterranean.  In 
this  manner  the  progress  of  geography  became  nearly 
identical  with  the  progress  of  astronomy. 

In  the  Augustan  age  they  had  acquired  the  idea 
that  the  earth  was  a  globe  ;  but  that  idea  was  in  its 
rude  state.  Aristotle  proved  that  fact,  by  referring 
to  the  circular  shadow  projected  by  the  earth  on  the 
moon  in  an  eclipse.  He  proceeded  to  calculate  from 
astronomical  observations  its  figure  and  magnitude. 
The  world  had  then,  however,  but  a  small  body  of 
scientific  men,  and  it  had  no  art  of  printing.  Such 
ideas  and  demonstrations,  therefore,  made  but  slow 
progress  ;  accordingly,  by  the  mass  of  mankind  this 
idea  was  not  imbibed  or  believed  at  all.  Subsequent 
to  this  period  for  many  ages,  science  made  no  pro 
gress.  It  was  enough  that  in  the  disorders  and  con 
vulsions  succeeding  the  fall  of  Ro:iv>  it  found  any 


THE  UTILITY  OF  ASTRONOMY.  149 

place  of  refuge  ;  it  was  enough  that,  like  the  light  of 
a  dark  lantern,  it  could  send  its  rays  in  any  one  di 
rection  through  the  almost  impervious  atmosphere 
around. 

It  was  in  consequence  of  this  condition  of  society 
that  the  knowledge  of  the  earth's  sphericity  remained 
for  so  long  a  period  unimproved.  It  was  a  thousand 
years  after  the  fall  of  Rome  that  the  greatest  of  geo 
graphical  discoveries  was  founded  on  the  astronomi 
cal  discovery  that  the  earth  was  a  sphere.  It  was 
when  Copernicus  was  a  young  man,  but  before  the 
publication  of  his  works,  that  Columbus,  by  the  di 
rect  conclusions  of  scientific  reasoning,  discovered 
America.  It  is  true  that  Columbus  had  the  compass 
(another  discovery  in  navigation  due  to  astronomy) „ 
but  it  was  not  the  compass  which  induced  the  rea 
soning,  in  the  pursuit  of  which  he  reached  the  shores 
of  the  western  continent. 

He  argued,  that  the  earth  being  a  sphere,  by  sail 
ing  continually  in  one  direction,  he  must  eventually 
circumnavigate  it.  He  argued  also,  that  as  the 
known  land  occupied  but  a  small  portion  of  the 
known  surface  of  the  globe,  the  equilibrium  of  mat 
ter,  and  the  purposes  for  which  the  earth  was  formed, 
required  there  should  be  other  lands  in  the  depths  of 
the  Western  Ocean.  This  was  as  legitimate  a  con 
clusion  from  the  astronomical  discovery  and  demon 
stration  that  the  earth  was  a  sphere,  as  any  corollary 
is  from  any  theorem. 

Thus  there  is  a  complete  sequence  of  ideas  and 


150  AMERICAN   EDUCATION. 

conclusions  from  the  first  demonstration  deduced 
from  astronomical  observations  that  the  earth  was  a 
globe,  down  to  the  final  discovery  of  a  new  continent 
in  the  Atlantic  Ocean.  Who  can  estimate  the  value 
and  the  vast  moral  consequences  of  this  continent, 
thus  discovered,  to  the  whole  future  life,  dignity,  and 
destiny  of  the  human  race ! 

To  the  eye  of  science,  of  Christian  civilization,  and 
of  progressive  humanity,  it  has  emerged  from  the 
bosom  of  the  seas  perfectly  and  absolutely  a  new 
world  ;  to  the  advancing  generation  of  men  in  Eu 
rope  and  Asia,  crowded  in  dense  masses  upon  the 
old-settled  portions  of  the  earth,  it  acts  as  a  new  cre 
ation,  inviting  them  to  new  conquests  in  the  field  of 
labor,  to  new  investigations  by  the  human  mind,  and 
to  fresh  hopes  in  the  pursuit  of  happiness. 


ASTRONOMY  DETERMINES  PLACE   ON  THE   EARTH. 

Astronomy  has  not  only  discovered  new  conti 
nents,  but  it  has  determined  the  relations  of  each 
spot  on  the  earth  to  every  other  spot.  In  one  word, 
it  has  enabled  us  to  determine  where  any  one  place 
is,  relatively  to  the  whole  surface  of  the  globe.  How, 
without  such  knowledge,  could  the  position  of  any 
town  or  place  ever  be  described  ?  The  lines  of  lati 
tude  and  longitude  are  the  only  means  by  which  the 
locality  of  any  spot  on  earth  can  be  determined  with 
any  accuracy  :  they  are  the  true  basis  of  all  other 
subdivisions.  These  lines  are  purely  astronomical ; 


THE   UTILITY  OF  ASTRONOMY.  151 

they  determine  place  by  mathematical  conclusions 
drawn  from  astronomical  observations.  Thus,  a 
point  is  fixed  relatively  only  by  the  intersection  of 
two  lines :  if  we  knew  the  position  of  one  of  these 
lines,  and  did  not  know  that  of  the  other,  we  should 
know  that  the  point  to  be  ascertained  was  in  the 
known  line,  but  where  in  that  line  we  should  not 
know.  That  point,  however,  which  is  at  the  inter 
section  of  two  lines  is  palpably  fixed,  because  it  could 
not  move  without  leaving  that  intersection.  If  one 
of  these  lines,  then,  be  a  line  of  latitude,  and  the  other 
a  line  of  longitude,  it  fixes  the  relative  position  of  that 
place  on  the  surface  of  the  earth.  This  is  what  gives 
certainty  to  place  on  our  maps,  and  gives  a  corre 
sponding  certainty  to  it  in  our  minds. 

To  do  this  so  that  the  idea  of  that  place  should  for 
ever  remain  fixed  with  accuracy  in  our  descriptions 
of  the  earth,  and  not  change  with  changing  genera 
tions,  was  necessary  to  the  truth  of  history  and  the 
durability  of  human  records.  It  is  done  by  taking  as 
the  basis  of  one  of  these  measures,  a  line  which  is 
permanently  fixed  on  the  earth,  by  the  very  mechan 
ism  of  the  celestial  universe.  This  line  is  the  equa 
tor,  or  the  intersection  of  the  earth's  surface  with  a 
plane,  passing  through  its  centre  perpendicular  to  the 
axis  of  revolution.  The  revolution  of  the  earth  on  its 
axis,  then,  determines  the  equator,  and  the  distance  of 
a  place  from  the  equator  gives  us  the  latitude. 

The  longitude  is  dependent  on  the  same  principles; 
it  is  the  distance  measured  on  the  earth's  surface 


15*2  AMERICAN   EDUCATION. 

between  two  planes  passing  through  the  axis  of  the 
earth.  These  two  planes,  then,  one  passing  through 
the  axis  of  the  earth,  and  the  other  perpendicular  to 
it,  are  both  dependent  on  that  axis  of  revolution  for 
existence.  Latitude  is  measured  from  one,  and  lon 
gitude  from  the  other :  these  two  determine  place. 
Thus  the  exact  relation,  distance,  and  geographical 
position  of  every  spot  on  earth  is  fixed,  so  that  it  will 
remain  durably  impressed  on  the  pages  of  history,  the 
lines  of  a  chart,  and  the  memory  of  the  human  intel 
lect.  This  result  is  deduced  from  the  axis  of  the 
earth. 

This  again  depends  on  the  revolutions  of  the  earth  ; 
and  these  revolutions  are  observed  and  accurately 
demonstrated  by  astronomical  science. 

Nor  is  this  all.  The  longitude,  or  difference  be 
tween  two  meridians,  is  ascertained  by  the  most 
vigilant  and  minute  observation  of  celestial  phe 
nomena.  To  do  this  ;  ccurately,  it  is  necessary  to 
observe  the  eclip;es  of  the  moon,  the  eclipses  of  Ju 
piter's  satellites,  or  the  transit  of  some  planet. 

Thus  does  astronomy  minister  directly  to  one  of 
the  most  common  and  useful  branches  of  knowledge ; 
thus  does  it  determine  distance  and  locality;  thus 
does  it  make  clear  and  beautiful  charts  of  lands,  seas, 
and  islands,  which,  without  it,  would  have  existed  in 
our  minds  only  in  a  wild  waste  of  confusion.  No 
accurate  measurement  of  lands,  no  true  relations  of 
distances,  no  correct  charts  exist,  which  owe  not 
their  accuracy  and  their  being  to  those  celestial  orbs 


THE   UTILITY  OF  ASTRONOMY.  153 

whose  rays  do  not  more  surely  descend  upon  matter, 
than  does  their  mechanism  give  knowledge,  sugges 
tion,  and  aliment  to  the  mind  of  the  observer. 

ASTRONOMY    DETERMINES    THE    MAGNITUDE    OF    THE 
GLOBE. 

Again :  astronomy  not  only  determines  the  relation 
of  places  to  one  another,  but  it  has  ascertained 
the  exact  magnitude  of  the  globe  itself — the  limit  of 
space  assigned  to  mortal  man  in  his  abode  on  earth. 
By  successive  measurements  of  a  degree  on  the  sur 
face  of  the  earth,  and  its  relation  to  the  corresponding 
one  of  a  meridian — measurements  made  by  Picard, 
and  various  other  astronomers — the  precise  diameter 
of  the  earth  was  calculated,  and  the  quantity  of  its 
surface.  Nor  was  this  all :  by  the  calculations  of 
various  arcs  of  circles  on  the  earth,  it  was  revealed 
that  our  globe  was  not  precisely  a  sphere,  but  was 
what,  in  the  language  of  mathematics,  is  called  an 
oblate  spheroid;  that  is,  a  sphere  flattened  at  the 
poles. 

This  again  gave  rise  to  deep  investigations  as  to 
the  laws  of  gravitation,  by  w7hich  it  is  proved  that  the 
attraction  is  less  at  the  equator  than  the  poles,  and 
that  the  earth  could  not  be  a  homogeneous  mass.  By 
a  succession  of  profound  calculations,  based  on  astro 
nomical  observations,  was  thus  discovered  and  proved 
the  laws  which  govern  the  irregularity  of  a  sphere  in 
motion,  the  magnitude  of  its  surface,  and  the  density 
of  its  mass. 


154  AMERICAN   EDUCATION. 


ASTRONOMY   DETERMINES   THE    MEASURE   OF   LANDS,  AND 
IS  THE  BASIS  OF  THE  PUBLIC  SURVEYS. 

After  having  determined  the  relations  of  place 
on  the  surface  of  the  earth,  and  the  quantity  of  that 
surface  in  the  aggregate,  there  still  remained  a  prob 
lem  of  geographical  relations  to  be  determined  by 
astronomy,  whose  results  entered  into  the  business  of 
every-day  life.  It  was  one  of  vast  practical  utility, 
and  to  no  country  more  so  than  to  that  in  which  we 
live.  That  problem  was,  to  give  exact  measurement 
and  precise  locality  to  those  pieces  of  land  distributed 
by  legal  title  among  the  individuals  of  each  particular 
nation.  The  solution  of  this  problem  has  a  direct 
and  immediate  value ;  it  gives  accuracy  to  the  de 
scription  of  lands,  and  stability  to  the  tenure  of  legal 
titles.  In  no  part  of  the  world  has  this  been  done 
with  more  strict  method,  with  more  harmony  of  parts, 
or  with  more  symmetry  of  proportion,  than  in  the 
survey  of  the  public  domain  in  the  Northwestern 
Territory  of  the  United  States.  The  value  of  that 
survey  to  the  public  interests,  the  simplicity  of  its 
arrangements,  and  its  immediate  connection  with  the 
scientific  history  of  the  West,  make  it  especially 
proper  that  I  should  make  a  brief  statement  of  the 
astronomical  survey  of  the  northwestern  states. 

It  was  in  May,  1785,  now  sixty-five  years  since, 
Congress  adopted  by  law  the  plan  of  laying  out  the 
public  lands  in  six  miles  square,  by  rectangular  co 
ordinates.  In  June,  1787,  they  passed  the  ordinance 


THE  UTILITY  OF  ASTRONOMY.  155 

for  the  government  of  the  Northwestern  Territory. 
So  it  is  the  northwestern  states  which  have  been  the 
chief  theatre  for  the  practical  development  of  that 
system. 

This  ordinance  for  the  division  of  the  public  lands, 
one  of  the  most  important  in  the  history  of  the  United 
States,  was  not  the  work  of  a  moment,  or  adopted  on 
slight  consideration.  It  was  wisely  planned,  and  delib 
erately  considered.  It  was  before  Congress,  and  fully 
debated  during  three  months.  In  the  debates,  a  mo 
tion  was  made  to  strike  out  the  clause  relating  to  this 
mode  of  surveying  and  subdividing  lands,  and  the 
motion  received  the  support  of  four  states.  This 
plan  was,  therefore,  an  act  of  deliberate  wisdom.* 

*  The  following  brief  history  of  the  origin  of  the  present  admirable 
system  of  land  surveys,  adopted  by  the  United  States  government, 
would  be  out  of  place  here,  but  that  it  is  a  part  of  the  hiskoy  of  the 
country  very  little  known,  and  which  reflects  honor  on  the  men  of 
science,  and  the  education  of  this  country  during  the  last  generation. 

The  ordinance  for  the  sale  and  distribution  of  lands  in  the  Western 
Territory,  preceded  the  ordinance  of  1787,  for  the  government  of  the 
North  western  Territory,  and  was  in  fact  the  first  great  movement 
made  after  the  cession  of  VJrginia,  for  the  future  settlement  of  the 
northwestern  states.  A  brief  history  of  this  ordinance  is  not  alto 
gether  disconnected  from  the  subject  of  Astronomy. 

March  4,  1785,  "  An  Ordinance  for  ascertaining  the  mode  of  locating 
and  disposing  of  lands  in  the  Western  Territory,"  was  read  the  first 
time  in  Congress. 

March  16,  it  was  referred  to  a  committee  of  one  member  from  each 
state.  This  committee  consisted  of  Mr.  Long,  Mr.  King,  Mr.  Howell, 
Mr.  Johnson,  Mr.  R.  R.  Livingston,  Mr.  Stewart,  Mr.  Gardner,  Mr.  J. 
Henry,  Mr.  Gray  son,  Mr.  Williamson,  Mr.  Bull,  and  Mr.  Houston. 


156 


AMERICAN   EDUCATION. 


The  connection  of  this  mode  of  surveying  with 
astronomy  is  obvious.     An  exact  meridian  line  for 


April  14,  this  committee  reported  an  ordinance  for  "  ascertaining  a 
mode  of  disposing  of  lands  in  the  Western  Territory." 

April  20,  21,  22,  23,  26,  this  ordinance  was  discussed.  On  the  26th, 
a  motion  was  made  by  Mr.  Grayson,  to  recommit  the  ordinance,  which 
failed. 

April  27  and  28,  the  ordinance  was  further  discussed. 

May  2,  3,  4,  5,  and  6,  various  motions  were  made  as  to  the  mode  of 
offering  the  lands  for  sale,  and  they  were  debated. 

May  19th,  the  ordinance  was  again  taken  up,  and  on  the  20th 
of  May,  1785,  it  was  finally  passed,  having  been  amply  debated 
during  nearly  three  months.  This  ordinance  contains  the  following 
paragraphs : 

1.  The  surveyors,  as  they  are  respectively  qualified,  shall  proceed 
to  divide  the  said  territory  in  townships  of  six  miles  square,  by  line* 
running  due  North  and  South,  and  others  crossing  these  at  right  an 
gles,  as  near  as  may  be,  &c.,  &c. 

2.  The  plats  of  townships,  respectively,  shall  be  marked  by  subdi 
visions  into  lots  of  one  mile  square,  or  640  acres,  in  the  same  direction 
as  the  external  lines,  and  numbered  from  1  to  36,  &c, 

The  first  of  these,  it  will  be  observed,  is  the  system  of  rectangular 
co-ordinates.  The  second  is  the  system  of  sections,  as  the  land  is  now 
sold  by. 

This  system,  however,  was  not  universally  approved  of,  because  its 
tendency  was  to  delay  the  sales  of  public  lands  till  they  could  be  cor 
rectly  measured,  and  the  title  perfectly  ascertained.  By  this  very 
procedure,  so  favorable  to  the  people  generally,  and  to  the  public 
prosperity,  speculation  in  land  warrants,  and  the  irregular  survevs 
and  locations  afterwards  adopted  in  Kentucky  and  in  Virginia  lands, 
was  prevented. 

In  the  Madison  papers,  vol.  2,  pages  637  to  639,  Mr.  Madison  says, 
that  the  Eastern  States  favored  the  plan  adopted,  while  the  southern 
people  were  for  "  indiscriminate  locations."  These  indiscriminate  lo 
cations  were  precisely  the  evil  which  was  sought  to  be  avoided.  In 


THE  UTILITY  OF  ASTRONOMY.  157 

any  given  spot  is  determined  by  astronomical  obser 
vation.  Through  this  spot  is  drawn  another  line  at 
right  angles.  This  last  line  is  parallel  to  the  equator, 
because  that  also  is  perpendicular  to  the  meridian. 
Here,  then,  we  have  two  fixed  astronomical  lines  at 
right  angles  to  each  other.  The  first  of  these  is  the 
meridian  line,  and  the  second  is  called  the  base  line. 
They  make  the  two  standard  lines  from  which  all 
others  in  the  survey  proceed.  From  these,  lines  are 
run,  at  any  required  distance,  by  the  common  com 
pass.  The  intersections  of  these  lines  determine  the 
locality  of  every  spot  in  the  immense  surface  covered 
by  the  northwestern  states.  The  result  is,  that  the 
whole  country  is  divided  into  squares  of  any  size 
which  the  government  or  the  holders  of  lands  may 
choose. 

In  carrying  out  this  plan,  it  was  not  enough  to  de 
clare,  as  in  the  ordinance  of  1785,  that  the  lands 
should  be  surveyed  in  certain  described  squares  of 
townships  and  sections.  It  was  required  that  astron 
omy  should  be  called  in  to  determine  the  standard 
lines,  and  fix,  with  permanency  and  certainty,  the 
true  meridians,  and  the  latitudes  of  certain  principal 


Kentucky  they  have  occasioned  endless  litigation,  while  the  lands  of 
Ohio  and  Indiana,  surveyed  by  the  United  States,  have  been  com 
paratively  without  any  legal  difficulty. 

At  the  period  Mr.  Madison  wrote  (1787),  about  six  hundred  thou 
sand  acres  of  the  public  lands  had  been  surveyed  under  the  ordinance 
of  May,  1785. 


158  AMERICAN  EDUCATION. 

points.  In  the  year  1803,  the  late  Colonel  Jared 
Mansfield  was  appointed  Surveyor-General  of  the 
northwestern  states  and  territories,  by  President  Jef 
ferson.  He  was  not  appointed  for  the  purpose  of 
practical  surveys,  as  they  are  now  carried  on,  but 
for  the  purpose  of  determining  astronomically  certain 
lines  of  latitude,  and  the  principal  meridians  on  which 
the  surveys  were  thereafter  to  proceed,  and  in  fact 
have  ever  since  proceeded,  with  precision  and  scien 
tific  exactitude.* 

*  In  Mies'  Register,  volume  16,  page  363,  is  a  letter  of  Mr.  J. 
Meigs,  the  Commissioner  of  the  Land-Office,  in  which  he  describes 
the  principal  meridians  that  were  run  by  the  Surveyor-General,  on 
which  to  base  systems  of  surveys.  The  first  principal  meridian  passed 
through  the  mouth  of  the  Great  Miami,  and  extended  to  the  northern 
boundary  of  the  United  States. 

The  second  principal  meridian  commences  at  a  point  five  miles 
southwest  of  the  confluence  of  Little  Blue  River  with  the  Ohio,  and 
extends  to  the  northern  boundary  of  the  United  States.  At  thirty 
miles  from  its  commencement  it  is  crossed  bythe  base  line,  a  parallel 
to  the  equator. 

The  third  principal  meridian  commences  at  the  confluence  of  the 
Ohio  and  the  Mississippi. 

There  are  other  meridians  surveyed  since.  Mr.  Meigs  says,  that 
"  the  principles  of  this  system  have  governed  the  public  surveys  in 
Alabama,  Mississippi,  and  Louisiana,  and  will  unquestionably  be  ad 
hered  to  until  the  public  surveys  shall  reach  Astoria,  at  the  mouth 
of  Columbia  River,  in  longitude  48  degrees  west  of  the  capital." 

In  volume  12,  page  97,  of  Niles'  Register,  will  be  found  another 
letter  from  Mr.  Meigs,  in  which  this  species  of  surveys  is  particularly 
described.  In  the  same  volume,  page  407,  Mr.  Meigs  thus  speaks  of 
the  authorship  of  what  may  be  called  the  ASTRONOMICAL  SYSTEM  OF 
SURVEYING  ;  (for  the  reader  will  observe,  it  was  one  thing  to  divide 


THE   UTILITY  OF  ASTRONOMY.  159 

Official  documents  show  that  astronomical  obser 
vations  were  a  part  of  the  duties  of  the  surveyor- 
general  in  that  early  settlement  of  the  Ohio  valley. 
He  was  directed,  if  possible,  to  determine  the  south 
ern  extremity  of  Lake  Michigan,  the  western  extrem 
ity  of  Lake  Erie,  the  confluence  of  the  Ohio  with 
the  Mississippi,  and  the  western  boundary  of  the  Con 
necticut  Reserve.  For  this  purpose  astronomical  in 
struments  were  necessary.  Mr.  Jefferson,  who  was 
a  warm  friend  of  science,  directed  the  purchase  out 
of  the  contingent  fund  of  the  President  of  a  transit 
instrument,  a  telescope,  an  astronomical  clock,  and  a 
sextant.*  They  arrived  in  Cincinnati  in  1805  or  6, 


the  country  into  squares  of  townships  and  sections,  and  another  to 
base  that  system  upon  astronomical  lines  accurately  determined:} 
"  A  plan  of  survey  was  therefore  devised  by  that  valuable  officer, 
Colonel  Mansfield,  the  then  Surveyor-General  of  the  United  States, 
which  not  only  avoided  this  perplexity  and  comparison,  but  remedied 
the  defects  of  the  old  system,  which  experience  and  reflection  had 
pointed  out  to  be  considerable.  His  plan  is  the  same  that  is  described 
in  my  last  (see  Niles'  Register,  vol.  12,  page  97),  and  is  the  same  that 
is  pursued  in  all  the  public  surveys  since  executed  under  the  direction 
of  the  Surveyor-General." 

*  A  portion  of  these  instruments  are  now  removed  to  West 
Point,  and  placed  in  the  philosophical  department  of  that  institution. 
They  were  removed  after  the  appointment  of  Col.  Mansfield  as  pro 
fessor  of  philosophy.  By  means  of  the  government  instruments, 
his  house  near  was  from  1806  to  1812  a  real  observatory.  Very 
recently  the  Cincinnati  Observatory  has  been  founded,  of  which 
Professsor  Mitchel  is  the  director.  Celestial  observations  are  there 
recorded,  by  means  of  magnetical  machinery  invented  by  him,  with 
a  rapidity  unknown,  I  believe,  to  any  other  observatory. 


160  AMERICAN  EDUCATION. 

were  placed  in  the  house  of  the  surveyor-general, 
and  constituted,  as  I  believe,  the  first  real  observatory 
erected  west  of  the  Alleghany  Mountains. 

There,  during  a  series  of  years,  numerous  and  in 
teresting  astronomical  observations  were  made.  The 
orbit  of  the  comet  of  1807  was  calculated  and  re 
corded  in  the  transactions  of  the  Connecticut  Acad 
emy  of  Arts  and  Science  :  eclipses  of  various  kinds 
observed,  the  longitude  determined,  and  all  other  ob 
servations  made  which  the  nature  of  the  instruments 
and  the  early  settlement  and  rude  state  of  the  country 
would  allow. 

The  meridian  first  surveyed  with  scientific  accu 
racy  was  called  the  second  principal  meridian,  and  is 
that  which  commences  at  the  confluence  of  Little 
Blue  River  with  the  Ohio,  in  the  state  of  Indiana. 
This  meridian  is  continued  to  the  northern  boundary 
of  the  United  States,  in  its  whole  length,  580  miles. 
By  this  meridian  and  the  principal  base  line  at  right 
angles  to  it,  nearly  the  whole  state  of  Indiana  and  a 
portion  of  Illinois  were  surveyed. 

From  the  form  of  the  earth  meridian  lines  approx 
imate,  arid  in  a  great  length  of  line  that  approxima 
tion  would  throw  the  townships  which  were  intended 
to  be  squares  into  parallelograms.  Hence,  in  survey 
ing  the  public  lands,  a  new  base  line,  a  perpendicular 
to  the  meridian,  was  run  at  intervals  of  thirty  miles, 
and  the  errors  of  the  meridian  corrected. 

This  may  be  called  the   astronomical  system  of 


THE  UTILITY  OF  ASTRONOMY.  161 

surveying.  The  whole  subdivision  of  lands,  surveys 
in  the  northwest  states,  and  those  west  of  the  Missis 
sippi,  with  very  little  exception,  is  made  in  this  man- 
ner,  and  depends  on  mathematical  lines  connected  by 
astronomical  observations.  It  is  not  merely  a  beau 
tiful  plan,  but  it  is  the  best  possible  security  to  titles, 
and  the  surest  prevention  of  litigation.  In  reference 
to  this  great  utility  of  scientific  surveys,  Mr.  Meigs, 
Commissioner  of  the  Land-Office,  remarked,  that 
"  man  brings  the  heavens  to  the  earth  for  his  conve 
nience.  A  few  geographical  positions  on  the  map  of 
the  public  surveys  being  determined  by  astronom 
ical  observations,  it  is  with  little  difficulty  that  the 
latitude  and  longitude  of  every  farm,  and  of  every  log 
hut  and  court-house,  may  be  ascertained  with  pre 
cision." 

While  science  was  thus  introducing  civilization 
into  the  bosom  of  the  forest,  that  forest  covered 
nearly  all  the  vast  extent  of  the  western  plains. 
From  the  Miami  to  the  Wabash  was  an  uninter 
rupted  wilderness.  The  face  of  the  white  man  was 
more  rarely  seen  than  the  fiery  eyes  of  the  implaca 
ble  panther.  The  red  man  filled  the  woods  with  his 
war-cry.  To  him  science  had  never  revealed  the 
mysteries  of  nature — 


-  ne'er  taught  to  stray 


Far  as  the  solar  walk  or  milky-way." 

To   him  celestial   phenomena  were   the   terrors   of 
superstition.      In   the   sun   eclipsed   he    beheld   the 
.11 


162 


AMERICAN  EDUCATION. 


funeral  pall  of  the  earth  ;  in  the  distant  comet,  the 
messenger  of  destruction  ;  and  in  shooting-stars,  the 
arrows  of  heaven  !  The  warrior  of  a  hundred  bat 
tles  bowed  himself  to  the  earth,  and  his  red  face  grew 
pale  with  fear.  The  scene  is  changed.  But  a  single 
generation  has  elapsed,  yet  the  savage  and  the  pan 
ther  have  alike  disappeared.  Civilization  has  built 
rich  cities  on  the  site  of  the  wigwam  and  the  hut. 
The  dark  ignorance  of  savage  life  is  gone,  and  now 
science  comes  to  erect  her  temples  on  our  verdure- 
crowned  hills. 

The  frown,  once  severely  placed  upon  the  brow  of 
nature,  is  removed.  The  stars  no  longer  shoot  ter 
rors  across  the  horizon  :  the  sun  no  longer  veils  his 
face  in  anger.  We  stand  upon  the  vantage-ground 
of  knowledge.  We  look  to  the  firmament  as  upon 
the  face  of  a  friend,  whose  countenance  is  known. 
We  trace  the  lines  of  his  features  :  we  go  back  to 
his  great  original.  Light  smiles  out  from  every 
wandering  orb,  and  eternal  beauty  rests  on  all  the 
works  of  God. 

I  have  now  shown  that  astronomy,  directly  or  in 
directly,  has  produced  vast  practical  consequences  to 
other  sciences,  to  knowledge,  and  to  business.  It 
has  given  us  all  our  knowledge  of  time  :  it  has  taught 
us  the  sphericity  and  magnitude  of  the  earth  :  it  has 
furnished  us  with  the  only  mode  of  accurately  de 
termining  place  :  it  has  given  us  the  only  exact  mea 
surement  of  lands  :  it  has  given  us  the  reasoning 


THE  UTILITY  OF  ASTRONOMY.  163 

by  which  new  continents  were  discovered  in  the 
bosom  of  the  mighty  deep.  It  has  done  more. 
It  has  dissected  the  sunbeams  ;  converged  them  in 
lenses,  and  applied  them  through  the  telescope,  by 
the  hands  of  Galileo,  of  Newton,  of  Herschel,  and 
now  of  Rosse,  so  that  the  realities  of  vision  exceed 
the  boundaries  of  imagination,  and  fancy  herself,  so 
long  a  wanderer  wild,  is  startled  at  the  leap  which 
science  calls  her  to  make  ! 


INFLUENCE  OF  ASTRONOMY  ON  THE  HUMAN  MIND. 

Our  next  inquiry  is,  what  effect  has  the  study  of 
astronomy  produced  by  its  direct  action  on  the  hu 
man  mind?  There  are  two  modes  by  which  the 
mind  is  improved  by  the  study  of  science.  The  first 
is  by  increasing  the  quantity  of  its  actual  knowledge  ; 
the  second  is  by  extending  the  range  of  its  inquiries, 
the  elevation  of  its  thoughts,  and  the  magnitude  of 
its  conceptions.  For  it  is  obvious  to  any  observer  of 
intellectual  action,  that  two  minds  may  have  nearly 
the  same  amount  of  acquisition,  and  about  the  same 
energy  for  all  common  affairs,  and  yet  one  may  ex 
ceed  the  other  a  thousand-fold  in  the  circumference 
of  the  sphere  of  its  intellectual  views.  The  one  is 

limited  by  the  horizon  of  things  just  around  him 

the  other,  disciplined  by  science,  taught  the  powers 
of  nature,  and  aided  by  a  vigorous  imagination,  as- 


164  AMERICAN   EDUCATION. 

cends  from  hill  to  hill,  from  mountain  top  to  moun 
tain  top,  till  not  a  summit  interrupts  his  vision  from 
border  to  border  of  the  physical  universe. 

In  this  grand  result  of  added  knowledge  on  the  one 
hand,  and  of  increased  circumference  and  sublimity 
of  human  conceptions  on  the  other,  no  science  has 
equalled  astronomy.  Many  of  the  discoveries  made 
in  consequence  of  astronomical  observations  I  have 
already  enumerated.  There  is,  however,  another 
extensive  group  of  discoveries  which  were  even 
more  directly  the  consequences  of  astronomical  in 
quiries. 

These  are  the  instruments,  the  means,  and  the 
mathematical  analysis  by  which  the  problems  of  the 
celestial  phenomena  were  solved.  Before  the  time  of 
Galileo,  the  means  of  observing  the  heavenly  bodies 
were  scarcely  better  than  the  smoked  glass  used  by 
boys  to  look  at  eclipses.  One  of  the  greatest  discov 
eries  in  mechanical  knowledge  produced  by  astron 
omy  was  that  of  the  telescope.  In  the  hands  of  Gal 
ileo,  and  while  yet  in  its  rude  state,  the  surface  of 
the  moon,  the  forms  of  the  planets  and  their  satellites, 
were  perfectly  observed.  Then  commenced  the  un 
folding  of  that  vast  field  of  starry  orbs  which  has 
continued  its  development  from  Galileo  to  Herschel, 
and  from  Herschel  to  Struve  and  Rosse.  The  tele 
scope  was  followed  by  the  microscope,  the  pendulum 
clock,  and  various  other  mechanical  inventions  ap 
plied  to  astronomy.  Step  by  step  the  mechanics  of 
science  were  enlarged  and  improved  by  thnt.  very 


THE  UTILITY  OF  ASTRONOMY.  165 

theoretical  research  whose  inquiries  they  were  des 
tined  to  aid  and  advance. 

Then  came  the  discovery  of  the  composition  of 
light,  of  which  it  has  been  aptly  said,  that  "  Newton 
untwisted  all  the  shining  robe  of  day,  and  made 
known  the  texture  of  that  magic  garment  which  the 
God  of  nature  has  kindly  spread  over  the  surface  of 
the  visible  world."*  Great  as  were  his  other  discov 
eries — his  decomposition  and  recomposition  of  light 
remains  the  most  brilliant  gem  in  the  earthly  crown  of 
Newton. 

Beautiful  and  almost  incomparable  as  these  visions 
into  the  mysteries  of  nature  were,  abstract  mathe 
matics  considered  in  regard  to  itself  was  to  receive 
a  greater  than  either.  This  was  the  introduction  of 
the  geometry  of  infinites  ;  the  mathematical  analysis 
now  known  as  the  Calculus,  or  Fluxions.  This  is  the 
Infinitesimal  Analysis,  and  is  that  peculiar  calculation 
which  determines  the  laws  of  curve  lines.  It  was  the 
instrument  invented  by  Newton,  previous  to  his  as 
tronomical  demonstrations,  and  used  by  him,  La 
Place,  and  others,  in  calculating  to  their  utmost  lim 
its  the  powers  and  forces  involved  in  the  mechanics 
of  the  planetary  system.  Then  the  domain  of  math 
ematical  science  was  extended  in  every  direction. 
Professor  Playfair  said  that  "  these  problems  are  con 
nected  with  the  highest  attainments  of  wisdom,  and 
the  greatest  exertions  of  power.  They  seem  like  so 

*  Playfair's  Discourse. 


166  AMERICAN  EDUCATION. 

many  immovable  columns  erected  in  the  infinity  of 
space,  to  mark  the  eternal  boundary  which  separates 
the  regions  of  possibility  and  impossibility  from  one 
another." 

Such  were  some  of  the  additions  to  knowledge 
made  in  the  search  after  the  mere  means  and  instru 
ments  by  which  the  astronomer  should  ascend  the 
stairway  of  the  visible  creation,  enter  the  midst  of 
its  mechanical  machinery,  and  direct  the  chariot  of 
science  through  the  throng  of  revolving  worlds ! 

But  these  newly  discovered  elements  of  knowledge 
— various,  beautiful,  and  wonderful  as  they  are — were 
but  a  part,  and  the  smallest  part,  of  the  effects  pro 
duced  upon  the  human  mind  by  the  pursuit  of  astron 
omy.  Beattie,  in  his  Essay  on  Truth,  says,  that  the 
mind  partakes  of  the  character  of  the  natural  scenery 
by  which  it  is  surrounded.  The  mountaineer  is  the 
child  of  liberty ;  and  virtue  dwells  amidst  the  pure 
air  of  his  lofty  hills.  If  such  be  the  effect  of  natural 
scenery  on  the  surface  of  the  earth,  what  must  be  the 
sublime  conceptions  of  him  who,  even  in  imagination, 
passes  behind  this  earthly  atmosphere,  ascends  the 
beams  of  the  evening  star,  reaches  the  zenith  of  the 
firmament — 


—  riding  sublime 


Upon  the  seraph  wings  of  ecstasy, 
The  secrets  of  the  skies  to  spy  !" 

It  was   a  sublime  idea  to  conceive  the  infinitesimal 
analysis.      It  was  a  vision,  exceeding  all  the  bounds 


THE  UTILITY  OF  ASTRONOMY.  167 

of  poetry,  to  take  the  rainbow  colors  from  the  white 
light  of  the  sun,  to  recompose  them  again,  and  make 
their  colors  resume  the  transparent  beams  whence 
they  were  taken  ;  but  these  were  inferior  acts  in  the 
drama  of  science,  to  that  which  finally  solved  the 
problem  of  the  planetary  system,  and  which  accounted 
for  all  its  movements,  its  relations,  its  irregularities, 
and  its  phenomena. 


THE  PROBLEM  OF  THE  CELESTIAL  BODIES. 

In  order  to  know  what  the  human  mind  has  ac 
complished  in  this  respect,  we  must  state,  and  under 
stand,  if  possible,  the  exact  problem  which  was  pre 
sented  for  its  solution  in  the  phenomena  of  the  celes 
tial  bodies.  It  involves  no  technical  terms,  but  may 
be  understood  by  a  statement  of  common  facts, 
and  of  what  reason  obviously  requires  to  solve  those 
facts. 

In  the  sixteenth  century,  the  era  of  Tycho  Brahe, 
the  celestial  phenomena  to  be  accounted  for  were 
these : — it  was  known  the  earth  was  a  globe,  and 
hung  in  indefinite  space  ;  it  was  known  that  in  the 
firmament  around  it  were  innumerable  other  globes 
of  light :  they  too  were  hung  in  indefinite  space. 
Between  all  these  globes,  or  between  any  two  of 
them,  there  was  no  communication.  Some  appeared 
to  be  in  motion,  and  some  appeared  to  be  stationary. 
Man  was  placed  on  the  surface  of  one  of  this  host  of 


168  AMERICAN  EDUCATION 

globes  ;  the  only  element  common  to  him  with  them, 
was  light — the  only  fact  in  their  constitution  which 
could  be  observed,  was  motion.  Even  this  motion 
deceived  him,  for  its  appearance  was  often  contrary 
to  its  reality. 

These  were  the  facts,  and  no  other  aid  was  to  be 
had  than  what  reason  could  furnish.  These  distant 
bodies  were  intangible  to  human  hands,  unapproach 
able  by  any  means  of  conveyance,  immeasurable  by 
any  instrument.  There  was  no  matter  in  their  com 
position  to  be  analyzed  ;  no  airy  vessel  which  should 
carry  tidings,  like  electro-magnetism,  on  the  wings  of 
thought.  The  mind  alone  was  to  furnish  all  that 
could  hereafter  be  known  of  these  unknown  worlds. 
It  was  a  draft  on  the  immortal  spirit,  to  go  where 
only  spirits  could  go ! 

The  problem  which  these  facts  required  man  to 
solve,  if  it  could  be  solved,  was  this  : — 

1.  That  he  should  invent  and  use  such  mechanical 
instruments  as  would  observe  the  minute  motions  of 
these  distant  bodies,  and  measure  accurately  the  ele 
ment  of  time  or  the   relations  of  motions,  the  only 
one  which  could  be  calculated. 

2.  Next,  it  was  required  that  he  should  calculate 
from  these  relative  motions  observed  in  space,  the 
figures,  or  trace,  which  these  bodies  made  in  the  fir 
mament. 

3.  Thirdly,  it  was  required  that  he  should  discover 
and  demonstrate  the  laws  of  that  motion  by  which  a 
body  in  space  would  describe  that  figure ;    and  that 


THE  UTILITY  OF  ASTRONOMY.  169 

he   should   also   discover   what   kind   of  compound 
forces  would  move  a  body  in  that  curve. 

4.  It  was  next  required  that  he  should  discover 
some  general  force  or  attraction  of  universal  nature, 
which  should  keep  all  these  bodies  in  their  several  re 
lations  to  each  other,  and,  combined  with  the  original 
impulse,  keep   them  in  the  curves    in   which   they 
actually  move ;    and  that  he  should  demonstrate  this 
to  the  satisfaction  of  every  reasoning  mind. 

5.  When  this  was  done,  it  was  required  that  the  the 
ory  of  planetary  motion  and  attraction,  thus  proposed 
and  demonstrated,  abstractly,  should  in  actual  obser 
vation  account  for  all  the  motions,  all  the  phenomena, 
all  the  irregularities,  the  most  minute  or  the  most  dis 
tant,  which  then  occurred,  or  hereafter  should  occur, 
in  the  history  of  the  celestial  mechanics.     It  must 
leave  not  one  unsolved  fact  in  all  the  motions  and 
attractions  of  the  heavenly  bodies. 

6.  Lastly,  it  was  required  that,  by  the  knowledge 
thus  developed,  the  astronomer  should  become  a  proph 
et,  and  predict  the  future  evolutions  of  the  heavenly 
bodies ;  tell  when  the  planets  should  cast  their  shad 
ows  upon  each  other ;  when  their  orbits  would  inter 
sect  ;  when  the  wandering  orb  should  return  from  its 
mission  to  unknown  and  unvisited  worlds ;  and  thus, 
when  the  mortal  body  shall  long  have  been  returned 
to  the  dust,  the  immortal  spirit  should  record  its  glo 
rious  victories,  and  fasten  its  memory  on  the  dial-plate 
of  creation ! 

This  was  the  all-comprehensive,  apparently  impos- 


170  AMERICAN   EDUCATION. 

sible  problem  presented  to  the  inventive  genius  of 
science ;  this  was  the  problem  which,  if  the  human 
mind  could  solve,  it  might  be  said  to  have  demonstra 
ted  its  own  immortal  powers,  and  to  have  taken  its 
sublime  flight  victorious  over  time  and  space.  It 
required  more  of  mathematics  than  all  the  philoso 
phers  had  learned,  more  of  optics  than  the  world 
had  discovered,  and  more  of  chemistry  and  mechan 
ics  than  all  the  artisans  had  then  attained ;  yet  this 
problem  was  solved — solved  in  a  little  more  than  a 
century,  chiefly  by  three  minds.  One  was  Galileo, 
who  commenced  the  discoveries  made  by  the  tele 
scope  ;  another  was  Kepler,  whose  Three  Laws  of 
Motion,  written  without  name,  date,  place,  or  circum 
stance,  constitutes  the  simple  and  sublime  epitaph  on 
his  monument ;  and  the  other  Newton,  whose  theory 
of  gravitation  gave  form,  symmetry,  beauty,  and  truth 
to  all  the  discoveries  preceding  him. 

The  effect  of  these  vast  achievements  on  the  hu 
man  mind  was  not  confined  to  the  philosophers  and 
savans  who  pursued  the  walks  of  astronomy  and 
mathematics ;  it  was  not  confined  to  the  solitary 
student  at  the  midnight  lamp :  it  announced  new  and 
extraordinary  facts  to  every  intelligent  mind  in  the 
civilized  world;  it  disclosed  means  by  which  these 
facts  were  attained,  exceeding  any  thing  the  human 
understanding  had  ever  conceived  of  the  powers  of 
abstraction  and  the  acuteness  of  reasoning.  It  made 
this  power  of  abstraction  and  this  acuteness  of  reason 
common  to  all  instructed  intellects  ;  it  gave  the  sub- 


THE  UTILTTY   OF  ASTRONOMY.  171 

lime  thoughts  and  demonstrations  of  Newton  to  every 
pupil  in  a  college-hall ;  it  invited  them  to  enter  the 
chambers  of  the  skies ;  to  draw  aside  the  curtain  of 
the  firmament ;  to  walk  with  Galileo  through  its  star- 
paved  halls,  and  read  with  Newton  the  character  of 
its  history,  so  dim,  so  dark,  so  mysterious,  and  so 
inscrutable  to  patriarchs  and  prophets,  to  Greeks  and 
Romans.  This  was  the  vast  acquisition,  the  sublime 
flight  which  astronomy  gave  to  the  human  mind. 

THE  STUDENT  OF  ASTRONOMY  STUDYING  THE  HEAVENS. 

And  now,  in  this  later  day,  when  all  lights  of  for 
mer  days  concentrate  upon  us,  let  the  young  student 
of  science,  with  the  Bible  in  one  hand,  and  the  brief 
volumes  which  record  the  discoveries  of  Kepler  and 
Newton  in  the  other,  commence  his  walk  through  the 
heavens.  He  dissects  the  light ;  converges  its  rays  in 
the  telescope ;  and  ascends  with  multiplied  power  of 
sight  beyond  the  ring  of  Saturn,  beyond  Orion  and  the 
Pleiades  ;  he  passes  in  thought  round  the  circle  of  the 
sun  ;  ascends  the  slanting  beam  of  some  wandering 
comet ;  penetrates  the  dim  atmosphere  of  the  milky- 
way,  and  wonders  to  find  each  particle  a  living  star ! 
Again  he  beholds  some  new  meteor  emerging  from 
the  firmament,  assuming  new  colors,  changing  them 
like  chameleon  hues,  and  again  disappearing  from 
sight !  He  examines  the  clustered  nebulae  ;  separates 
them  into  single  orbs,  and,  returning  to  the  narrow 
closet  in  which  his  body  is  placed,  writes  all  these 


172  AMERICAN  EDUCATION. 

mysterious  phenomena  down  in  his  catalogue  of  hu 
man  knowledge ! 

He  ascends  again ;  passes  sun,  stars,  and  nebulae, 
till,  standing  on  the  verge  of  distant  creation,  he  sees 
with  the  eye  of  the  spirit  this  whole  system  of  ours, 
sun,  planets,  and  satellites, 

"  hanging  in  a  golden  chain, 
This  pendent  world,  in  bigness  as  a  star 
Of  smallest  magnitude." 

He  has  begun  with  the  earliest  discoveries  of  astron 
omy  ;  he  has  ascended  by  a  series  of  successive  ele 
vations  :  each  advance  has  been  but  a  platform  by 
which  to  ascend  the  next.  The  summit  has  still 
faded  before  him  and  still  allured  him  on,  till  what 
seemed  once  the  highest  flight  of  the  human  mind  is 
now  but  a  single  step  in  its  progress ! 

This  ascent  of  physical  science  through  the  mate 
rial  world  from  planet  to  planet,  sun  to  sun,  and  star 
to  star,  has  been  but  the  type  of  the  ascending  flight 
of  the  human  mind  through  the  realms  of  knowledge. 
It  is  the  conquest  of  spirit  over  matter :  the  spirit  has 
gone  forth,  unrestrained  by  the  attractions  of  earth, 
unlimited  by  the  passage  of  time,  undaunted  by  the 
vacuity  of  space,  chainless  as  the  mountain  winds, 
free  as  the  beams  of  morning  light ! 

And  now,  when  the  student  stands  in  his  spiritual 
presence  on  the  verge  of  this  creation,  there  is  some 
thing  in  his  soul  which  moves  him  to  inquire,  where 
is  the  Spirit  which  has  placed  this  immeasurable  cre 
ation  in  this  infinitude  of  space  ?  where  is  the  centre 


THE  UTILITY  OF  ASTRONOMY.  173 

of  these  orbs  and  their  motions  ?  what  hand  sustains 
them  in  the  emptiness  of  space  ?  This  student  sees 
them  attracting  one  another,  and  sustaining  the  mo 
tions  of  one  another,  as  they  wheel  through  the  void 
immense  ;  but  what  upholds  in  that  immense  this 
entire  sidereal  heavens  ? 

He  feels  that  he  has  sent  his  own  spirit  forth 
through  created  worlds  a  conqueror  over  matter ;  and 
he  feels  that  nothing  less  than  the  power  of  an  Infi 
nite  Spirit  is  equal  to  the  task  of  upholding  them  in 
that  infinity  of  nothingness,  to  whose  extent  neither 
human  language  nor  human  imagination  can  reach. 

He  hears  the  wild  Indian  speak  of  the  Great  Spirit 
beyond  the  hills ;  he  hears  the  Assyrian  worship  him 
before  the  altar-fires  of  Baal;  he  hears  the  glorious 
harp  of  Homer  chanting  the  Jupiter  of  Mount  Olym 
pus  ;  he  feels  that  the  Infinite  Spirit  is  confined  nei 
ther  to  Indian  hills,  nor  Grecian  mountains,  nor  Baal 
fires.  He  turns  to  that  Bible  which  is  in  his  hand 
as  he  takes  his  walk  through  the  material  universe, 
and  reads  of  Him  who  bowed  the  heavens  and  came 
down.  No  more  he  walks  solitary  in  gloomy  doubt 
through  the  jewelled  halls  of  the  skies ;  no  more  he 
turns  to  the  cloudy  Jupiter  of  the  Greek  Olympus ; 
no  more  he  finds  pendent  worlds  hung  centreless  in 
the  infinitude  of  space !  He  finds  the  golden  centre 
in  Him  who  is  the  Creator  of  nature,  and  the  Re 
deemer  of  man ;  in  Him  who  alone  is  immutable 
amidst  the  mutable  things  of  a  finite  world  ! 

He  hears  the  declaration  of  St.  James,  that  in  the 


174  AMERICAN  EDUCATION. 

FATHER  OF  LIGHTS,  whether  they  be  in  the  world  of 
matter  or  of  mind,  there  is  no  parallax  of  light,  no 
shadow  of  change ;  and  he  feels  that  he  can  say  with 
Spenser,  in  the  Fairy  Queen : 

"  When  I  bethink  me  on  that  speech  whylear, 
Of  mutability, — and  well  it  weigh ; 
Me  seems,  that  though  she  all  unworthy  were 
Of  the  heaven's  rule ;  yet  very  sooth  to  say, 
In  all  things  else  she  bears  the  greatest  sway. 
***** 
Then  'gin  I  think        *  *  * 

Of  that  same  time  when  no  more  change  shall  be, 
But  steadfast  rest  of  all  things,  firmly  stay'd 
Upon  the  pillars  of  eternity, 
That  is  contrayr  to  mutability : 
For  all  that  moveth  doth  in  change  delight, 
But  thenceforth  all  shall  rest  eternally 
With  him  that  is  the  God  of  Sabaoth  hight." 


CHAPTER  VIII. 

THE  UTILITY  OF  HISTORY. 

"Now  all  these  things  happened  unto  them  for  ensamples;  and  they  are  written 
for  our  admonition,  upon  whom  the  ends  of  the  world  are  come." — i  Cor.  ch.  x. 
"History  is  philosophy  teaching  by  example."— Bolingbroke. 

THE  definition  by  Bolingbroke  has  received  the 
assent  of  society,  by  its  universal  reception  without 
denial.  But  history  is  extended  even  beyond  that 
definition.  As  time  advances,  the  laws  of  social 
growth  and  decay  begin  to  assume  the  regularity  of 


THE  UTILITY  OF  HISTORY.  175 

a  science ;  and  the  divine  government  is  developed 
in  the  same  order  and  uniformity,  in  human  action, 
as  in  the  movements  of  the  material  bodies. 

Science,  too,  has  extended  this  instruction,  by  ex 
ample,  much  beyond  the  boundaries  of  mere  human 
transactions.  It  has  shown  us  history  in  every  thing. 
The  tree,  it  is  said,  records  its  own  age  by  the  suc 
cessive  strata  of  its  growth.  The  stars  also  measure 
the  spaces  of  time,  and  there  is  an  astronomical  his 
tory  which  goes  back  to  the  morning  of  creation. 
The  very  elements  and  affinities  of  matter  have  un 
dergone  changes,  and  there  is  a  record  of  them  writ 
ten  on  the  features  of  nature.  The  fountains  of  the 
great  deep  have  been  broken  up — islands  have  been 
cast  up  by  fire  out  of  its  waters,  and  the  memorials 
of  its  secret  history  scattered  on  the  mountain  tops. 
Chemical  agencies  have  been  employed,  till  the  living 
animal  and  the  decaying  wood,  petrified  in  stone,  pre 
served  in  caverns,  or  imbedded  in  rocks,  remain,  and 
shall  forever  remain,  historical  monuments  to  the 
changes  wrought  by  Almighty  power,  as  well  as  to 
the  unchanging  truth  of  his  word. 

But  man  is  at  last  the  chief  subject  of  history  ;  for 
his  restoration  to  a  lost  estate  were  the  fountains  of 
nature  broken  up,  and  that  very  registry  of  time, 
kept  by  the  bright  orbs  of  heaven,  is  a  ministering 
agent  to  the  record  of  human  events. 

Yet  upon  all  this  history  of  man,  mutability,  appa 
rently  the  most  wayward  and  destructive,  is  written 
with  a  pen  of  iron.  Philosophy,  viewing  it  as  a  dis- 


176  AMERICAN   EDUCATION. 

connected  series,  has  made  little  out  of  it;  and  the 
good  and  the  wise  have  turned  with  sorrow  from 
what  seemed  a  dark  picture  of  depravity. 

While,  however,  there  rests  this  apparent  uncer 
tainty  on  the  great  mass  of  human  history,  there 
stands  out  the  fact,  that  there  is  no  evidence  of  un 
certainty  found  in  the  relations  of  the  social  system. 
Human  nature  has  fixed  principles,  and  when  we  ob 
serve  it  in  society  around  us,  we  never  doubt  that  the 
same  effects  will  follow  the  same  causes :  and  the 
legislator,  as  the  author  of  the  spirit  of  laws,  never 
fails  to  derive  lessons  of  instruction  from  the  relations 
of  institutions  to  society,  and  of  manners  to  institu 
tions.  Hence  it  is  only  when  we  view  events  with 
out  principles  that  history  becomes  confused,  and  un 
certainty  rests  upon  its  results.  We  conclude,  then, 
that  as  human  nature  has  a  constitution,  and  as  the 
physical  world  has  laws,  so  the  social  system  has  not 
moved  on  through  ages  of  various  being,  under  or 
ganized  forms,  without  principles  proper  to  itself,  and 
without  acknowledging  the  relation  of  cause  and 
effect. 

To  trace  out  these  principles,  and  to  establish  this 
immutable  connection  of  cause  and  effect,  as  they 
have  been  developed  in  the  successive  modes  of  hu 
man  society,  constitutes  what  should  properly  be 
called,  the  science  of  history. 

1.  Our  first  object,  now,  is  to  show  what  this  science 
of  history  is  ; 

2.  And  our  second,  to  show  its  uses. 


THE  UTILITY  OF  HISTORY.  177 


WHAT  THE  SCIENCE  OF  HISTORY  IS. 

Science  is  systematized  truth*  It  is  built  up 
by  three  several  processes.  1st.  The  observation  of 
facts.  2d.  The  deduction  of  principles  from  the  con 
tinuity  and  uniformity  of  facts.  3d.  The  classifica 
tion  of  these  principles  into  systems  of  laws  having 
reference  to  some  common  object.  Facts  are  first 
observed ;  next,  it  is  observed  that  a  certain  class  of 
facts  or  phenomena  always  occur  under  a  fixed  con 
dition  of  things ;  this  condition  being  observed,  it  is 
proved  by  experience  or  demonstration,  and  hence 
forth  set  down  as  an  immutable  principle  :  new  facts 
are  observed,  and  new  principles  deduced,  as  time 
and  observation  extend :  at  length  these  principles 
are  classified,  and  a  system  is  formed,  based  upon  a 
common  class  of  objects,  which  takes  its  form  as  a 
scisnce.  There  is  first  the  particular  facts ;  next  the 
general  fact,  which  constitutes  the  principle;  and 
lastly,  a  system  of  truths. 

In  this  manner  are  all  sciences  begun  and  finished  ;"* 
so  geometry  was  built  up  in  Grecian  antiquity  ;  so 
chemistry  has  been  formed  within  the  last  two  cen 
turies  ;  so  political  economy  is  now  forming  ;  and  so 
history,  to  be  valuable  as  knowledge,  must  be  a 
system  of  principles  drawn  from  the  phenomena 
of  social  life,  observed  and  recorded  during  accumu 
lated  ages. 

*  For  a  more  extended  definition  of  science,  see  chapter  5th. 


178  AMERICAN   EDUCATION. 

To  know  what  the  system  of  truths  is,  which  is  as 
serted  and  illustrated  by  history,  we  must  note  the 
fact  that  it  comprehends  the  whole  progression  of  the 
human  race,  physical  and  intellectual.      Indeed,  the 
very  universality  of  its  topics  has  caused  its  uncer 
tainty,  and  will  cause  it  to  be  the  last  subject  which 
philosophy  brings  into  the  circle  of  the  sciences,  and 
reduces,  as  it  has  done  more  tangible  things,  into  the 
simplicity  of  demonstrative   systems.      History  has 
usually  been  regarded  as  relating  to  nations  or  eras, 
in  the  entirety  of  their  multifarious  transactions  ;  but 
this  is  not  the  philosophy  of  history,  and  does  not  ex 
hibit  the  progress  of  mankind  at  any  period  of  its  ex 
istence.     It  fixes  the  eye  upon  the  tumults  of  human 
passion,  as  the  mariner  looks  out  in  the  storm  upon 
the  billows  of  the  ocean  cast  up  by  the  tempest,  but 
leaves  out  of  view  that  distant  influence  which  rolls 
a  tide  through  the  affairs  of  men,  as  it  does  through 
the  waters  of  the  deep :    and  it  contemplates    man 
from  wrong  points  of  view  ;  for,  while  twenty  dynas 
ties  have  risen    and    fallen,  and  a  thousand   battles 
been  fought  without  changing  even  a  boundary,  some 
poor  journeyman  has  invented  the  art  of  printing  ; 
some  Florentine  merchant  has  poured  the  dews  of 
wealth  upon  the  parched  plants  of  literature  ;    some 
Descartes  has  improved  the  mathematical  analysis ; 
or  some  Whitney  introduced  a  new  staple  into  the 
resources  of  nations.     Thus  the  great  moving  causes 
of  social  progress  lie  beyond  the  mass  of  confused 


THE  UTILITY  OF  HISTORY.  179 

events,  and  must  be  sought  for  in  the  depths  of  so 
ciety,  as  the  diver  goes  through  turbid  waters  to  bring 
up  the  pearl  of  the  ocean. 

Again :  when  we  consider  eras  and  nations  with 
respect  to  outward  events,  or  partial  standards,  we 
arrive  at  wrong  results.  Thus  while  the  human  race 
has  been  steadily  improving,  it  is  notorious  that  the 
majority  of  nations  and  of  persons,  and  those,  too,  fre 
quently  the  most  brilliant  in  the  opinion  of  man 
kind,  have  been  retrograding.  It  was  during  the 
height  of  the  Roman  empire,  while  history  spoke 
through 

Tully's  voice,  and  Virgil's  lay, 
And  Livy's  pictured  page — 

that  corruption — dark,  fetid,  and  malignant,  as  paint 
ed  by  Juvenal — was  already  hurrying  her  backwards 
in  the  tide  of  time.  Yet  it  was  at  that  same  hour, 
when  admiration  was  fixed  upon  the  eagles  of  Rome, 
that  the  primitive  Christian  —  patient,  faithful,  and 
suffering — by  prayer  and  by  faith,  struggled  against 
adverse  waves  to  save  the  lamp  of  life  :  and  he  did 
save  it ;  and  it  became  the  light  of  nations  when  the 
darkness  of  destruction  had  gathered  over  those  ea 
gles  of  Rome.  It  was  also  during  the  ignorance  of 
the  middle  ages,  when  the  historian  found  nothing 
but  lamentations  for  the  people  of  Europe,  that  the 
wild  Arabian  became  the  cultivator  of  genius  and 
learning ;  arts,  sciences,  and  the  muses  clustered 


180  AMERICAN   EDUCATION. 

around  the  standard  of  the  false  prophet,  and  Medina 
presented  the  most  brilliant  scenes  of  the  modern 
world. 

It  is  not  then  by  contemplating  any  one  nation,  or 
any  one  period  of  time,  or  the  general  events  of 
history,  the  change  of  dynasties,  or  the  splendor  of 
arms,  that  we  can  discern  the  chain  of  cause  and  ef 
fect  which,  extending  from  the  garden  of  Eden  to  the 
last  men,  has  brightened  as  it  lengthened,  and,  as 
cending  link  by  link,  has  carried  forward  the  human 
mind  from  conquest  to  conquest.  This  relation  of 
cause  and  effect,  though  always  connected  with,  is 
never  dependent  upon  persons,  nations,  or  events. 
Its  only  dependence  is  the  development  of  truth.  It 
sometimes  leaves  one  nation  to  give  glory  to  another : 
it  leaves  Charlemagne  to  dwell  with  Friar  Bacon; 
quits  the  Delta  of  the  Nile  to  pour  splendor  over  the 
barren  hills  of  Attica,  and  the  plains  of  Chaldea  to 
illustrate  an  island  of  the  ocean.  The  science  of 
history  then  is  the  development  of  the  human  mind, 
as  is  demonstrated  by  the  experience  of  mankind. 
Its  duty  is  to  state  that  development,  as  it  is  exhib 
ited  in  the  various  forms  of  civilization,  and  to  inves 
tigate  the  causes  by  which  its  progress  has  been  ad 
vanced  or  retarded.  It  is  most  evident  that  this  is 
a  study  which  could  have  no  existence  in  the  early 
ages  of  the  world,  because  history  had  not  then  been 
written,  or  if  written,  could  not  have  contained  a 
thousand  branches  of  knowledge  and  forms  of  so 
ciety,  which  have  been  the  result  of  invention, 


THE  UTILITY  OF  HISTORY.  181 

discovery,  experience,  and  increased   population   in 
modern  times. 

It  is  also  most  evident  that  its  importance  has  in 
creased  with  the  increase  of  experience  and  of 
knowledge.  The  power  of  knowledge  is  a  multi 
plying  power,  and  as  society  advances  the  problems 
of  history  are  solved  with  tenfold  readiness.  Multi 
tudes  of  questions  might  have  been  asked  in  Egypt 
or  Greece  upon  the  results  of  certain  states  of  so 
ciety  which  time  had  not  enabled  them  to  answer, 
but  which  the  student  now  looks  upon  as  among  the 
certainties  of  knowledge.  These  questions  are  con 
stantly  solving,  and  leaving  less  for  solution.  The 
social  sciences  are  thus  rapidly  accumulating,  ac 
quiring  stability,  system,  and  certainty.* 

THE  USES  OF  HISTORY. 

Our  next  object  is  to  show  some  of  the  uses  of  the 
study  of  history. 

*  The  greatest  works  which  distinguished  the  last  two  centuries 
(not  on  physical  sciences),  were  the  foundation  of  certain  branches  of 
social  science ;  for  example,  Montesquieu's  Spirit  of  Laws  is  the 
foundation  work  on  the  science  of  political  law.  So,  Locke  on  the 
Human  Understanding  is  the  foundation  work  on  practical  metaphy 
sics  ;  so,  also,  Adam  Smith's  Wealth  of  Nations  may  be  regarded  as 
the  original  of  the  modern  science  of  political  economy.  Neither  of 
these  sciences  is  completed;  but  they  are  begun  and  are  growing. 
There  are  numerous  other  branches  of  social  science  which  are 
scarcely  yet  begun,  but  which  will  in  another  generation  grow  into 
vast  importance. 


182  AMERICAN  EDUCATION. 

The  first  of  these  is  its  favorable  effect  on  the 
taste  for  literature.  The  love  of  the  narrative,  and 
of  the  pictures  of  social  life  connected  with  it,  is 
almost  as  universal  as  the  love  of  novelty  itself.  It 
is  this  love  of  the  narrative,  deep  seated  in  human 
nature,  which  is  the  exhaustless  patron  of  the  great 
mass  of  fictitious  literature,  whether  in  prose  or  poetry, 
which  has  been  poured  like  a  flood  upon  the  heading 
public,  increasing  with  the  increasing  power  of  the 
press.  -%V 

The  poet  does  not  long  support  his  flight  without 
it,  and  the  noblest  of  poems,  the  epic,  owes  to  this 
principle  its  entire  interest.  The  novel  has  no  being 
without  it,  and  in  most  cases  contains  nothing  else. 
It  is  made  the  conduit  for  all  the  sentiment,  principle, 
taste,  or  views  contained  in  that  great  body  of  litera 
ture,  which  is  created  and  nourished  by  the  imagina 
tion.  In  our  time,  none  can  doubt  that  it  has  been 
abused  to  licentiousness.  It  has  been  made  to  scoop 
the  kennel  for  characters,  to  clothe  the  viler  principles 
in  the  most  beautiful  garments,  to  exaggerate  truth 
into  falsehood,  and  substitute  an  affected  sentimen 
tality  for  the  noble  hardihood  of  virtue.  In  fine,  the 
literary  standard  of  the  age  has  been  lowered  by  its 
tolerance,  through  its  love  of  the  narrative,  of  de 
formed  facts,  exaggerated  truth,  perverted  sentiment, 
and  vicious  principles.  The  literary  coin  has  been 
debased ;  the  stamp  is  right,  but  it  has  been  alloyed 
at  the  mint.  A  mighty  principle  of  human  nature 
has  been  made  to  contain  a  thousand  follies,  if  not  a 


THE  UTILITY  OF  HISTORY.  183 

thousand  crimes,  as  the  strong  oak  contains  im 
prisoned  sap.  This  principle  cannot  be  eradicated : 
it  would  be  most  lamentable  for  human  nature  if  it 
could,  for  no  spring  of  the  immortal  spirit  has  poured 
a  more  fertilizing  stream  over  the  waters  of  human 
life  ;  flowers  and  verdure  have  sprung  up  under  its 
influence ;  sweet  fountains  have  been  opened  upon 
the  arid  plain,  and  the  heart  of  the  wayfaring  traveller 
made  glad,  upon  whose  journey  even  hope  had  ceased 
to  shup. 

The  principle  being  irradicable,  may  we  not  use  it 
for  useful  purposes  ?  The  true  philosophy  of  correc 
tion  in  literature,  as  well  as  morals,  lies  not  in  de 
struction,  but  in  reform.  There  is  no  principle  of 
human  nature  implanted  for  evil  purposes,  and  none 
which  the  power  of  man  can  destroy.  A  system 
which  aims  at  either  destroying  or  enslaving  the 
natural  tastes  or  faculties  of  the  human  mind,  will 
as  certainly  end  in  its  own  destruction  and  ultimate 
ridicule,  as  that  the  spirit  shall  survive  the  body. 

This  love  of  the  narrative  is  one  of  the  earliest 
principles  seized  upon  by  skilful  instructors  to  convey 
knowledge  to  the  opening  mind ;  and  observation 
teaches  us  that  it  loses  nothing  in  strength  or  fresh 
ness  as  life  draws  on.  The  last  romance,  filled  with 
mystery  and  marvels,  is  often  bent  over  with  as  much 
interest  by  declining  age  as  it  is  by  the  blooming  girl, 
who,  at  midnight  hour,  starts  at  the  picture  which 
imagination  has  drawn.  And  if,  indeed,  some  sober 
utilitarian,  or  some  recluse  in  orthodoxy  denies  him- 


184  AMERICAN  EDUCATION. 

self  these  pleasures,  he  is  sure  to  make  amends  by 
recounting  with  tenfold  aggravation  the  particulars 
of  the  last  shipwreck,  or  gazing  with  blood-shot  eyes 
at  the  wonders  of  the  last  moon  hoax. 

A  principle  which  is  thus  enduring  and  efficient, 
should  be  made  to  strengthen  the  power  of  truth,  as 
it  certainly  gives  energy  to  falsehood.  As  it  is  used 
in  the  beginning,  so  it  should  be  used  to  the  end  of 
education.  Let  the  power  of  the  narrative  be  united 
with,  instead  of  against  the  power  of  truth.  Let  it 
gather  up  the  images  of  the  right,  the  beautiful,  and 
the  glorious,  as  they  lie^  scattered  up  an^  down  the 
scene  of  life,  and  weigh  them  against  its  idols,  its 
dross,  and  corruptions. 

In  this  nature  assists  truth,  for  it  has  become  a 
maxim,  that  there  is  nothing  in  fiction  equal  to  the 
reality ;  and  all  who  reflect  will  readily  acknowledge 
the  fact.  The  imagination  has  never  painted  base 
ness  so  deep,  as  that  to  which  human  nature  has 
voluntarily  sunk;  nor  has  it  in  its  highest  flights  been 
able  to  conceive  of  the  strength  or  nobleness  of  the 
spirit,  either  in  its  trials  of  duty  or  its  powers  of 
achievement.  It  has  never  painted  a  scene,  in  depth 
of  tenderness,  or  agony  of  suffering,  or  complication 
of  misery,  of  beauty  in  virtue,  of  the  heroic  in  con 
duct,  or  the  terrible  in  crime,  which  has  not  been  a 
thousand  times  more  than  equalled  by  the  pencil  of 
nature.  And  how  can  it  be  otherwise  ?  What  ma 
terials  has  imagination  which  the  world  has  not  fur 
nished  ?  And  how  can  her  abstracted  colorings  equal 


THE   UTILITY  OF  HISTORY.  185 

in  depth   or  brilliancy  the  hues  which  real  feeling 
throws  around  its  objects  ? 

Hence  it  is  that  the  novelist  has  seldom  succeeded 
in  heightening  the  interest  of  any  great  historical 
character  or  remarkable  event.  Indeed  the  very  con 
trary  has  generally  been  the  case,  while  he  trod  on 
strictly  historical  ground.  It  is  only  when  he  assumes 
the  vantage  ground  of  a  continuous,  connected,  and 
unencumbered  personal  narrative,  which  history  from 
its  multifarious  circumstances  cannot  take,  that  the 
novelist  succeeds  in  imparting  to  his  historical  char 
acters  half  the  interest  of  the  original.  Compare,  for 
example,  Walter  Scott  with  Hume.  There  is  no 
character  of  Scott  stronger  impressed  upon  the  minds 
of  his  readers  than  the  brave,  stern,  cruel,  uncom 
promising  royalist,  Graham  of  Claverhouse.  Yet 
who  will  compare  him  to  the  Viscount  Dundee,  fol 
lowing  with  bigoted,  yet  devoted  heroism  the  fortunes 
of  his  master,  when  deserted  by  his  own  daughter, 
till  victory  meets  him  in  death  at  the  pass  of  Killy- 
crankie  ?  Who  will  compare  the  Mary  of  the  Abbot 
with  the  fascinating  royal  beauty,  who  drew  around 
her  the  circles  of  France,  and  the  knighthood  of 
Scotland  ?  Who  shall  compare  the  Elizabeth  of 
Kenilworth  with  the  maiden  Queen  of  England  ?  In 
fact,  wherever  we  go,  we  find  a  depth  of  interest  and 
a  splendor  of  scenery  around  real  characters  and 
events  which  no  invention  of  the  novelist  has  ever 
been  able  to  exceed.  What  in  pathos  can  surpass 
the  massacre  of  Glencoe,  or  the  speech  of  our  Logan  ? 


186  AMERICAN  EDUCATION. 

Who  shall  describe  a  more  eventful  life,  or  a  more 
beautiful  character,  than  that  of  Alfred  ?     Who,  from 
the  Arabian  Nights  to  the  Mysteries  of  Udolpho,  shall 
find  a  drama  more  terrible  in  interest,  more  gorgeous 
in  scenery,  or  more  strange  in  catastrophe,  than  that 
last  great   tragedy  in  which   the  Corsican  figured, 
from  the  plains  of  France  to  the  dark  rolling  Danube, 
and  from  the  vale  of  the  Arno  to  the  sands  of  Egypt  ? 
It  is  not,  then,  want  of  interest  in  historical  sub 
jects,  which  should  exclude   them  from  the  body  of 
our  literature.    On  the  contrary,  could  they  be  united 
with  a  continuity  of  personal  narrative,  they  would 
far  exceed,  in  that  respect,  any  invention  of  fiction. 
Indeed,  no  youth  worth  having  ever  commenced  the 
history  of  Napoleon  Bonaparte,  and  left  it  off:  night 
and  day  will  he  follow  the  army  of  France,  from  the 
field  of  Marengo  to  the  plain  of  Smolensk  ;  and  when, 
at  an  after  period,  he  has  come  to  understand  some 
thing  of  the  changes  of  nations,  and  the  mutability 
of  human  affairs,  he  will   wonder  why  it  was  that 
nations  have  risen  and  sunk ;  that  laws  have  varied ; 
and  that  such   men  as  Caesar  and  Bonaparte  have 
swept  over  nations  with  the  besom  of  destruction. 
His  love  of  inquiry  is  excited;  he  pursues  the  history 
of  the  human  mind ;  he  finds  it  progressing  in  spite 
of  the  wrecks  around  it ;  out  of  ruins  it  builds  new 
structures ;  out  of  ashes  its  fires  revive ;  he  sees  that 
the   history  of  nations,  of  dynasties,   and  of  men,   is 
not  the  history  of  human  nature  ;  he  finds  that  when 
these,  and  all  that  is  external  in  the  forms  of  society, 


THE   UTILITY  OF  HISTORY.  18? 

have  perished,  the  social  principle  remains,  the  treasu 
ry  of  knowledge  is  not  exhausted  ;  and  that  mind, 
passing  through  a  chrysalis  state,  assumes  a  new  form 
more  beautiful  than  the  last,  ascends  to  new  regions 
of  discovery  and  invention,  and  though,  like  the  bird 
in  the  tempest,  often  baffled,  holds  on  its  course  with 
tireless  wing. 

It  is  at  this  point  that  he  returns  to  history,  as  a 
science  :  the  only  science  which  can  unfold  this  de 
velopment  and  demonstration  of  the  powers  of  the 
human  mind. 

The  commencement  of  this  investigation,  we  have 
said,  was  the  love  of  the  narrative,  which  begins  with 
the  -personal  narrative  of  history,  and  ends  in  eleva 
ting  the  literary  taste  by  elevating  the  objects  of  its 
pursuit.  As  an  example,  we  are  told  of  a  remarkable 
man,  who  is  at  the  head  of  the  literature  of  France, 
if  not  of  Europe,  a  man  of  mingled  romance,  poetry, 
and  politics,  who  has  a  large  library  without  a  single 
work  upon  any  other  topic  than  history. 

We  have  said  that  the  love  of  narrative  was  to  the 
full  as  much  interested  in  realities  as  in  fiction.  But 
how  is  it  to  be  excited  ?  By  using  the  same  means 
to  cultivate  a  taste  for  truth,  which  we  do  for  fiction : 
by  placing  well-written,  lively,  and  personal  narra 
tives  before  the  mind,  when  the  world  is  a  novelty  to 
it,  and  every  new  fact  a  marvel.  Language  and  facts 
are,  in  respect  to  knowledge,  the  business  of  boy 
hood  ;  to  use  and  digest  them,  the  business  of  man 
hood.  Every  picture  of  history  is  as  much  a  new 


188  AMERICAN   EDUCATION. 

world  to  youth,  as  the  opening  glories  of  nature  to 
the  child. 

• '  ^"V  s- 

HISTORY  THE  DEVELOPMENT   OF  HUMAN  NATURE. 

Having  now  considered  the  use  of  history  as  an 
instrument  of  literature,  we  come  to  consider  the 
science  of  history  as  a  development  of  human  na 
ture. 

The  basis  of  sound  philosophy  is  said  by  Bacon  to 
/  be  experience;  and  if  the  experience  of  an  individual 
is  the  basis  of  knowledge  with  him,  surely  the  expe 
rience  of  the  human  race,  as  a  social  mass,  furnishes 
the  true  means  of  deducing  the  laws  of  social  conduct 
in  that  mass.  It  is  in  this  respect  that  the  science  ol 
statistics  becomes  collateral  to  that  of  history  :  it  col 
lects  and  compares  the  experience  of  nations  upon 
definite  topics,  and  verifies  the  results  with  the  accu 
racy  of  mathematical  calculation  ;  and  it  is  not  till 
this  is  done  thoroughly  and  extensively,  that  the 
legislator  and  the  educationalist  can  make  any  safe 
estimate  upon  the  mutual  influences  of  mind  and 
matter  as  developed  in  the  social  system.  If  the 
commerce,  the  religion,  and  the  science  of  England 
have  done  much  to  enlarge  her  empire,  her  improve 
ments  in  the  arts  of  agriculture  have  not  done  less : 
they  have  enabled  her  to  feed  fourteen  millions  of 
persons  upon  ground  which  a  little  time  before  sup 
ported  but  six.  It  is  thus  we  see  that  the  physical 
acts  must  be  counted  and  weighed,  before  we  can  tell 
what  powers  propel  the  wheels  of  society.  He  who 


THE  UTILITY  OF  HISTORY.  189 

shall  count  that  society  arises  wholly  from  the  action 
of  mind,  or  he  who  shall  assume  the  reverse,  that 
mind  is  dependent  upon  matter,  will  find  himself  in 
either  case  mistaken.  The  movements  of  society  are 
results  produced  by  the  combined  action  of  both  the 
physical  and  intellectual  conditions.  So,  too,  we 
shall  find  that  human  nature  itself  is  modified,  by  the 
mutuality  of  attraction  in  society,  into  forms  and  re 
sults  different  from  those  at  which  it  ever  arrives  in 
isolated  individuals. 

Ignorance  of  human  nature  is  said  to  have  been  the 
cause  of  half  the  crimes  and  follies  of  mankind :  but 
where  is  a  knowledge  of  human  nature  to  be  found  ? 
It  is  plain  it  is  not  confined  to  one's  self;  for,  import 
ant  as  is  the  knowledge  of  ourselves,  there  are  vast 
fountains  of  sensation,  great  reservoirs  of  mind,  mys 
terious  agencies,  which  could  never  be  known  to  an 
individual,  and  are  only  put  forth  through  the  chan 
nels  of  society.  One  may  discover  within  himself 
the  conscience  and  the  intellect  of  the  spirit,  but  must 
look  out  of  himself  for  all  that  concerns  its  connec 
tions  with  human  mind.  He  may  contemplate  him 
self  for  a  knowledge  of  his  powers  and  his  character ; 
but,  as  a  member  of  society,  he  is  one  of  a  mighty 
mass  which  moves  on  by  laws  as  fixed  as  those  of 
the  stars,  resistless  as  the  tides  of  the  ocean,  and  swift 
as  the  currents  of  time.  The  knowledge  of  human 
nature,  then,  as  it  is  manifested  in  society,  is  not  the 
knowledge  of  one  person,  like  a  brick  taken  from 
Babylon  as  a  specimen  of  the  city,  but  is  a  know- 


190  AMERICAN  EDUCATION. 

ledge  of  social  action — the  laws  which  regulate  the 
aggregated  whole. 

This  is  that  knowledge  of  human  nature  which  is 
valuable  to  the  human  economy,  by  affording  the 
only  just  basis  of  right  conduct,  wise  legislation,  or 
true  methods  of  education.  All  that  we  can  hope  for 
from  science  in  aid  of  humanity,  is  to  be  derived  from 
this  source ;  she  has  yet  to  develop  the  machinery  of 
social  movements,  and  teach  the  application  of  the 
new  and  tremendous  instruments  she  has  furnished 
to  the  elevation  of  the  soul  and  the  increase  of  ulti 
mate  happiness.  The  mechanical  arts  are  aiding  the 
science  of  political  economy ;  geology  is  ministering 
to  history  ;  statistics  are  rapidly  searching  the  general 
laws  of  both  physical  and  intellectual  humanity ;  and 
the  study  of  language  is  discovering  hidden  analogies 
in  the  roots  of  all  language ;  whilst  the  traveller  and 
the  scholar  have  disentombed  the  monuments  of 
Egypt,  and  interpreted  the  mysterious  records  of 
deep  and  dark  antiquity. 

We  thus  see  in  what  mode  history  and  its  collat 
eral  aids  are  developing  a  science  of  human  nature 
which  shall  contain  a  body  of  principles,  in  relation 
not  only  to  what  is  strictly  human,  but  to  the  forms 
and  results  of  associated  action,  to  the  effect  of  the 
sciences,  the  arts,  and  modes  of  government  upon  the 
character  and  condition  of  men. 

Whenever  a  system  like  this  shall  be  formed,  as  in 
time  it  will  be  formed,  it  will  commend  itself  to  the 
universal  assent  of  the  intellect  \\ith  as  much  cer- 


THE  UTILITY  OF  HISTORY.  191 

tainty  as  the  truths  of  geometry.  Of  the  great  value 
of  such  principles,  and  the  interest  with  which  they 
are  received,  we  have  examples,  in  respect  to  personal 
feelings  and  conduct,  in  the  universal  assent  given  to 
the  apothegm  of  Solomon,  and  the  almost  universal 
sympathy  with  some  of  the  proverbial  passages  of 
Shakspeare.  These  apothegms  and  passages  are  uni 
versal  truths,  drawn  from  human  nature,  and  entirely 
abstracted  from  particular  applications ;  hence  they 
derive,  even  in  Shakspeare,  little  aid  from  the  narra 
tive.  Most  of  the  quotations  from  the  drama,  made 
by  orators,  are  entirely  impersonal  ;  they  are  made 
on  account  of  a  principle  or  a  sentiment,  and  not  on 
account  of  the  character  which  utters  them.  Shaks 
peare  himself  derives  reputation  as  much  for  his 
skilful  analysis  of  human  nature  as  he  does  from  the 
splendor  of  his  poetry,  and  much  more  than  he  does 
from  any  skill  in  narration. 

Here,  too,  history  has  the  same  advantage  over  the 
drama  in  the  extent  of  its  instruction,  that  it  has  over 
biography  in  the  extent  of  its  jurisdiction. 

HISTORY  IS  DRAMATIC. 

History  is  both  dramatic  and  biographical,  but  it  is 
not  special  and  particular  in  either.  The  personal  dra 
ma  is,  perhaps,  the  most  interesting  form  of  the  narra 
tive  ;  yet  it  leaves  us  amused  rather  than  instructed. 
No  one  looks  among  his  friends  and  neighbors  for 
Richards  and  Falstaffs ;  for  he  knows  he  will  not  find 


192  AMERICAN  EDUCATION. 

them  :  still  less  does  he  expect  to  see  Calibans,  Ariels, 
or  the  witches  of  Macbeth.  He  knows  that  the 
drama,  whether  prose  or  poetic,  has  its  license. 
Nearly  all  its  characters  are  extreme  cases,  and  ex 
tremes  make  the  exception  and  not  the  general  rule^. 
Indeed  this  difficulty  holds  true  of  nearly  all  fictitious 
characters,  from  Shylock  to  Sir  Charles  Grandison : 
and  we  are  at  no  loss  for  the  reason ;  for  if  a  drama 
was  made  up  of  a  dozen  just  such  persons  as  we  see 
about  us  every  day,  it  would  no  longer  be  interesting. 
It  is  the  very  ultraism  of  fictitious  characters  which 
constitute  their  charm.  The  appeal  is  to  the  excita 
bility  of  the  imagination,  and  not  to  the  soberness  of 
reason.  Hence  if  we  learn  human  nature  from  such 
pictures,  \ve  learn  it  only  through  those  general  truths, 
which,  as  in  Shakspeare,  are  put  into  the  mouths  of 
the  speakers,  independent  of  their  relative  positions. 

Reality,  as  we  have  seen,  has  its  interest ;  an  in 
terest  higher  than  any  which  fiction  has  been  able  to 
attain.  Yet  this  would  seldom  be  the  case,  if  it  were 
confined  to  a  very  small  circle  of  persons  in  the  quiet 
scenes  of  peaceful  avocations.  History  reaches  it, 
by  being  able  to  include  within  its  gallery  of  pictures, 
as  well  the  peculiar  and  touching  scenes  of  real  life, 
which  have  been  created  by  an  extraordinary  concur 
rence  of  events,  as  the  magnificent  drama  of  ages  and 
of  multitudes,  which  have  been  unfolding  since  the 
dawn  of  time. 

It  is  this  unfolding  of  human  nature,  as  it  is  now 
seen  in  the  social  laws  of  those  ages  and  multitudes, 


THE  UTILITY   OF  HISTORY.  193 

and  now  in  the  personal  characteristics  of  those 
great  leaders  in  arts  and  arms  whom  fame  has  made 
the  impersonation  of  their  times,  which  makes  history 
the  science  of  human  nature.  As  such  it  wants  nei 
ther  interest,  truth,  nor  dignity. 

It  has  the  interest  of  a  drama,  of  which  the  world 
is  the  stage)  and  all  the  men  and  women  in  it  the 
players,  whose  action  begins  in  deep  antiquity,  when 
solemn  mystery  cast  darkness  around,  and 


gorgeous  Tragedy 


In  sceptred  pall,  came  sweeping  by, 
Presenting  Thebes,  or  Pelops'  b'ne, 
Or  else  the  tale  of  Troy  divine." 

A  drama  of  which 

"  The  four  first  acts  already  past," 

we  may  look  back  and  examine  the  artificial  machin 
ery  of  its  enactment.  The  player  has  long  since 
dropped  his  heroic  garb ;  the  pasteboard  scenery  has 
disappeared ;  broad  daylight  has  been  let  in  upon  the 
stage,  and  nature  claims  her  own.  There  we  can 
see  all  the  little  wheels,  as  well  as  the  great  moving 
power ;  all  the  miserable  stimulants  which  have  ex 
cited  the  actor,  as  well  as  the  nervous  energy  of  his 
action ;  all  the  episodes  of  the  play,  as  well  as  the 
great  catastrophe  towards  which  its  characters  rap 
idly  hasten;  and  there  too,  truth  has  pencilled,  by 
the  pen  of  prophet,  poet,  and  philosopher,  the  motive 
and  the  moral  of  this  drama  of  humanity.  It  is  well 
to  turn  for  a  little  while  from  the  part  we  are  playing 

13 


194  AMERICAN  EDUCATION. 

to  the  part  that  has  been  played ;  to  turn  the  eyes 
from  the  strong  light  of  orbs  which  now  touch  to  the 
meridian,  to  the  milder  glow  of  those  which  have 
passed  beneath  the  horizon. 

NATIONS  ARE  REPRESENTED  IN  HISTORY. 

On  this  great  stage  of  the  world  nations  have  been 
substituted  for  persons,  and  masses  of  men  for  indi 
viduals.  Hence  the  philosopher  has  deduced  laws 
from  history,  which  were  true  of  all  mankind  under 
the  same  conditions,  instead  of  those  partial  laws 
which  are  true  only  in  extreme  cases,  and  are  seldom 
applicable  to  real  life.  Take,  for  example,  the  influ 
ence  of  specific  institutions  in  perpetuating  condi 
tions,  as  exhibited  in  the  castes  of  Hindostan,  in 
which  learning  is  confined  to  the  Brahmins,  while 
labor  is  imposed  on  other  trades,  and  \vhere  ages  on 
ages  have  rolled  away  without  ever  changing  or  im 
proving  the  condition  of  the  people ;  or,  as  in  the 
English  feudal  system,  where  an  overshadowing  aris 
tocracy  has  been  built  up  and  perpetuated  by  the 
laws  of  primogeniture  and  entailment ;  or  the  influence 
of  laws  on  morals,  in  the  destruction  of  the  known 
domestic  ties  by  the  terrible  laxity  and  yet  cruelty  of 
its  institutions,  and  finally  the  reaction  of  those  poi 
soned  morals  in  the  destruction  of  the  state ;  for  we 
find  that  the  Emperor  Augustus  had  a  whole  code  of 
laws  enacted  to  encourage  marriage,  in  which  great 
rewards  were  offered  to  those  who  married  and  great 
penalties  to  those  who  did  not,  and  yet  the  Roman 


THE  UTILITY  OF  HISTORY.  195 

knights  were  so  corrupt  that  they  insisted  upon  its 
abolition ;  hence  it  was  well  said,  that  the  Roman 
empire  was  destroyed  before  it  was  invaded  by  the 
barbarians. 

In  furnishing  examples  of  these  general  laws  of  hu 
man  nature  of  which  history  is  the  development,  the 
statistics  of  modern  times  afford  powerful  aid  and 
instruction.  Mankind  are  now  in  the  crucible  of 
analysis,  and  the  laws  of  social  action  will  as  cer 
tainly  be  systematized  and  demonstrated,  as  that  the 
violation  of  them  has  produced  half  the  miseries  of 
the  race.  Take,  for  example,  the  law  in  respect  to 
the  formation  of  opinions ;  ignorance  of  that  law,  a 
recent  writer  has  remarked,  has  to  answer  for  the 
atrocities  of  religious  wars,  the  horrors  of  the  inquisi 
tion,  and  the  too  great  severities  of  the  penal  code. 
Creeds  and  confessions  have  been  handed  to  men  at 
the  point  of  the  bayonet ;  and  if  there  was  no  virtue 
in  kind  words,  there  was  supposed  to  be  much  in  the 
sword.  Yet  whose  opinion  has  force  ever  changed  ? 
Whom  did  persecution  ever  convince  ?  On  the  con 
trary,  has  it  not  become  a  maxim,  that  persecution 
assists  the  persecuted?  and  that  even  a  fool  or  a 
villain,  or  a  most  fallacious  creed,  may  be  raised  into 
consequence  by  uncharitable  and  violent  attacks  ? 
Here  the  principle  deduced  from  history  is  the  same 
with  that  laid  down  in  the  gospel,  that  the  true  mode 
of  persuasion  is  by  kindness  and  charity. 

Again,  we  have  an  example  of  another  principle 
illustrated  in  the  history  of  the  penal  law  of  England, 


196  AMERICAN   EDUCATION. 

that  when  a  punishment  is  disproportion ed  to  the 
offence,  however  grievous  and  calamitous  that  offence 
may  be  to  the  community,  society  will  not  enforce 
the  law.  In  a  commercial  community  the  crime  of 
forgery  is  one  of  the  highest  which  can  be  committed, 
because  it  attacks  that  commercial  confidence  which 
is  fundamental  to  a  commercial  community.  Ac 
cordingly  in  England  they  punish  it  with  death,  and 
no  one  fairly  convicted  has  been  known  to  be  par 
doned.  Yet  society,  believing  this  disproportioned  to 
the  offence,  very  seldom  convict :  witnesses  disap 
pear,  and  juries  find  loopholes  of  escape.  And  when 
we  attach  death  to  a  still  smaller  crime,  theft,  the  gov 
ernment  itself  steps  in  to  commute  the  punishment^ 
and  not  one  of  a  thousand  criminals  receives  the  pun 
ishment  awarded  by  the  law.  Law,  then,  to  be  suc 
cessful,  must  conform  to  the  equity  of  society. 

Again,  we  may  refer  to  the  established  historical 
principle,  that  wherever  mind  and  commerce  are 
least  restricted,  there  the  social  progress  is  the  most 
rapid,  and  the  mind  most  active  ;  whether  we  cite 
positive  examples  in  Athens  and  the  United  States, 
or  negative  ones  in  China  and  Spain. 

Further,  we  might  deduce  the  utility  of  knowledge 
from  the  statistics  of  modern  society,  in  the  fact,  that 
crime  and  vice  have  diminished  as  education  has  in 
creased  in  those  countries  where  accurate  returns 
could  be  had. 

The  illustrations  we  have  now  given,  whether  from 
the  dramatic  scenery  or  the  aggregate  facts  of  society, 


THE  UTILITY   OF  HISTORY.  197 

all  tend  to  show  that  in  history,  aided  by  its  great  ad 
junct,  statistics,  we  must  seek  the  true  science  of 
human  nature.  She  has  taken  the  gauge  and  dimen 
sions  of  humanity ;  she  has  descended  into  the  caverns 
of  the  earth  to  describe  the  half-fed  savage,  and  has 
ascended  the  heavens  to  "  unsphere  the  spirit  of 
Plato;"  she  has  left  no  extreme  of  the  race  unvisited, 
and  no  principle  of  its  nature  without  illustration. 

In  respect  to  this  view  of  human  nature,  we  may 
cite  an  extract  from  a  recent  article  on  statistics  : 

"  To  know  human  nature  is  to  know  the  general 
laws  of  human  action ;  to  ascertain  the  general 
course  of  man's  physical  and  moral  faculties.  Pre 
viously  to  all  observation,  it  might  seem  that  human 
actions  would,  if  registered,  present  as  vast  a  variety 
as  the  caprices  of  the  will,  and  that  to  discover  any 
thing  like  a  law  in  their  production  would  be  more 
absurd  than  to  investigate  the  rules  of  the  wind,  or 
the  regulations  of  the  whirlwind ;  yet  when  we  pass 
from  individuals  to  masses,  we  find  even  in  those  ac 
tions  which  seem  most  fortuitous,  a  regularity  of  pro 
duction,  an  order  of  succession,  that  can  arise  only 
from  fixity  of  cause.  Thus  were  a  man  always  to 
examine  only  individual  drops  of  water,  he  could 
never  conceive  the  beautiful  phenomenon  of  the 
rainbow  ;  it  is  only  when  the  drops  are  aggregated 
in  masses  and  placed  in  a  position  favorable  for  ob 
servation,  that  he  can  contemplate  that  glorious  arch 
spanning  the  horizon  and  seeming  to  connect  earth 
with  heaven." 


198  AMERICAN   EDUCATION. 


HISTORY  IS  THE  RECORD  OF  GOD  S  PROVIDENCE   IN    1  ftE 
GOVERNMENT   OF  MAN. 

The  next  use  of  history  is  derived  from  its  being 
the  record  of  that  providence  by  which  God  adminis 
ters  the  moral  government  of  mankind. 

That  there  is  a  system  of  compensations  by  which 
crime  is  made  to  produce  its  own  punishment,  at 
some  time  and  in  some  form,  enters  into  every  scheme 
of  religious  belief,  whether  of  savage  or  civilized,  Jew 
or  Gentile,  disciple  or  skeptic.  It  was  a  fact  legibly 
written  in  the  constitution  of  men,  and  upon  the 
works  of  nature.  The  true  philosophy  of  the  human 
mind  taught  it  from  the  days  of  Socrates  to  the 
present  time ;  the  Bible  teaches  it  both  in  the  pro 
phecy  and  the  fulfilment  of  those  tremendous  desola 
tions,  which  visited  the  iniquities  of  men  and  nations 
through  their  distant  posterity ;  and  it  may  be  ex 
pected  that  history  will  teach  the  same  lesson  as  she 
calls  up,  in  long  succession,  the  awful  shades  of  de 
parted  nations.  She  will  call  them  up  from  ancient 
graves,  from  ruins  long  unvisited,  from  monuments 
just  discovered  by  the  traveller,  from  pools  where  the 
bittern  dwells,  from  mighty  rivers  and  from  desert 
plains ;  she  will  call  the  spirits  of  once  glorious,  long 
punished  nations, 

To  vindicate  the  ways  of  God  to  man. 

In  illustration  of  this  truth,  we  shall  take  but  two 
or  three  remarkable  examples.  As  a  principle,  Provi- 


THE  UTILITY   OF  HISTORY.  199 

dence  invariably  attaches  to  corruptions  of  morals  in 
a  people,  the  destruction  either  of  the  people  or  their 
freedom.  Scarcely  a  people  ever  existed,  whose  his 
tory  has  not  borne  testimony  to  this  invariable  fact 
of  their  social  existence.  The  corruption  of  morals 
destroys  public  strength,  which  thus  invites  conquest 
from  abroad,  while  its  licentiousness  imposes  the  ne 
cessity  of  a  despotism  at  home.  It  is  not  the  refine 
ment,  but  the  corruption  of  manners,  that  enervates 
the  spirit,  destroys  the  courage,  and  dries  up  the  as 
pirations  of  a  nation  ;  it  was  thus  when  the  "despotism 
of  the  Caesars  was  founded  on  the  ruins  of  the  Roman 
republic ;  and  it  was  still  further  thus,  as  described 
by  all  its  writers,  when  that  despotism  itself,  with  the 
empire  over  which  it  ruled,  disappeared  before  a  dark, 
yet  uncorrupted  barbarism.  So  also,  it  is  truly  said 
by  Montesquieu,  that  when  the  people  of  England 
had  actually  reconquered  their  liberties  from  the 
tyranny  of  the  Stuarts,  they  had  not  virtue  enough 
to  establish  a  republic  ;  a  fact  which  we  can  well 
understand  when  we  reflect  upon  the  account  given 
by  Baxter  of  the  English  pulpit  in  his  day,  or  upon 
the  abandoned  licentiousness  of  the  court  of  Charles 
the  Second. 

A  still  more  glaring  and  fresh  example,  that  a  peo 
ple  cannot  escape,  even  under  all  the  forms  of  liberty, 
from  the  effects  of  their  own  corruption,  is  found  in 
the  history  of  the  last  century  in  France.  A  people 
already  licentious  destroyed  a  government  already 
despotic.  Freedom  unlimited  was  in  possession  of 


200  AMERICAN   EDUCATION. 

the  people.  The  original  elements  of  government 
were  opened  to  all  the  formations  of  which  constitu 
tional  liberty  is  susceptible ;  experiment  upon  experi 
ment  was  made  upon  them,  but  no  experiment  was 
able  to  bring  out  of  the  crucible  a  principle  strong 
enough  to  make  liberty  and  corruption  consist  to 
gether.  Over  and  over  again  did  the  whole  French 
nation  swear  solemn  fealty  to  successive  constitu 
tions  ;  and  as  often  did  they  fade  away  into  empty 
air.  License  itself  must  have  an  end,  and  the  pirates 
must  have  their  laws.  The  army  came  in  to  put  an 
end  to  anarchy.  The  First  Consul  of  the  French  re 
public  appeared  on  the  plains  of  Marengo,  and  the 
First  Emperor  of  the  French  received  his  baptism 
under  the  sun  of  Austerlitz ;  and  at  length  when  the 
laws  of  nations  restrained  the  flood  of  conquest,  the 
same  nation  received  back  the  same  profligate  Bour 
bons  whom  they  had  thirty  years  before  expelled  ; 
and  when,  in  another  revolution,  they  exiled  one 
branch  of  that  house,  it  was  only  to  place  upon  the 
throne  the  hated  family  of  Orleans,  which  had  fur 
nished  to  the  French  Revolution  the  most  detested 
of  all  its  terrible  characters.  Such  is  one  of  the 
stern  lessons  in  which  Providence  has  taught  that 
liberty  is  inseparable  from  virtue,  and  that  corruption 
shall  be  its  own  destroyer. 

But  we  have  a  nearer  and  a  more  illustrious  ex 
ample  of  that  Divine  Providence,  which  leads  nations 
through  the  wilderness  as  it  did  the  Jews,  in  the  his 
tory  of  our  own  country ;  and  it  is  the  more  remark- 


THE  UTILITY  OF  HISTORY.  201 

able  and  the  more  unanswerable,  as  it  stands  exactly 
in  juxtaposition,  both  in  time  and  civilization,  to 
those  examples  of  corruption  punished  which  have 
been  cited  from  the  two  most  polished  nations  of 
Europe. 

At  the  very  time  when  the  tyranny  of  the  Stuarts 
became  established  in  England,  and  the  church  be 
came  corrupt,  the  colonies  of  Plymouth  and  James 
town  were  founded ;  and  as  it  became  clear  that 
even  the  commonwealth  could  not  be  sustained,  and 
that  liberty  of  conscience  could  not  be  secured,  emi 
gration  to  America  increased.  So  too  in  South 
Carolina,  early  settlements  were  made  by  that  Hugue 
not  emigration  which  were  driven  out  of  France  by 
the  persecution  of  the  Protestants.  Thus  we  see 
that  Providence  laid  the  foundations  of  this  republic 
out  of  the  very  materials  which  the  corrupt  govern 
ments  of  the  old  world  had  expelled  from  their  bor 
ders.  The  very  acts  which  in  their  execution  left 
England  and  France  to  the  self-producing  punish 
ments  of  a  dissolute  tyranny,  were  made  by  Provi 
dence  the  means  of  founding,  in  a  new  world,  a  nation 
from  whom  they,  by  its  reflective  influence,  should 
derive  reform  and  liberty. 

But  this  was  not  all.  When  England  had  twice 
changed  her  government,  and  when  the  family  of  the 
Louises,  after  desolating  wars,  and  exhausting  ex 
travagance,  and  private  licentiousness,  had  exhausted 
the  moral  energies  of  the  French,  the  colonies 
planted  in  the  wilderness'  had  grown  up  in  hardy 


202  AMERICAN   EDUCATION. 

strength,  passed  through  a  victorious  revolution, 
and  formed  for  themselves  a  written  constitution 
setting  forth  and  defining  the  great  principles  of  hu 
man  rights. 

Who  can  look  upon  such  a  scene  and  not  feel  the 
moral  sublime  ?  Who  was  there  that  stood  among 
those  glorious  events,  and  did  not  feel  himself  sus 
tained  by  an  arm  mightier  than  his  own  ?  Of  all  the 
soldiers  of  the  Revolution,  there  was  hardly  one  who 
did  not  look  upon  Washington  as  sent  from  heaven. 
He  was  to  them  as  the  pillar  of  fire  by  night. 

And  of  all  the  great  chiefs  and  statesmen  of  that 
day,  there  were  few  who  did  not  look  upon  the  Amer 
ican  Revolution  as  an  extraordinary  event,  brought 
about  by  Providence  for  its  own  purpose.  Many 
proofs  from  authentic  records  might  be  cited  of 
this  ;  but  we  shall  take  one  only  from  the  letters  of 
one  of  the  most  powerful  and  distinguished  men  of 
that  day.* 

Patrick  Henry,  in  one  of  his  letters  says,  "  that  the 
American  Revolution  was  the  grand  operation  which 
seemed  to  be  assigned  by  the  Deity  to  the  men  of 
this  age  in  our  country  over  and  above  the  common 
duties  of  life.  I  ever  prized  at  a  high  rate  the  supe- 

*  The  history  of  the  United  States  lias  been  written  by  various 
hands  :  among  the  older  writers,  Ramsay  is  probably  the  most  accu 
rate  ;  among  the  school  histories  of  the  United  States,  Mrs.  Willard's 
is  preferable,  on  account  of  its  method  and  the  spirit  of  patriotism 
which  pervades  its  pages.  Bancroft's  is  highly  praised  as  a  general 
history  of  tin1  United  States. 


THE  UTILITY  OF  HISTORY.  203 

rior  privilege  of  being  one  in  that  chosen  age,  to 
which  Providence  intrusted  its  favorite  work." 

Such  has  been  the  course  of  Providence  hereto 
fore  in  building  up  and  spreading  out  the  strength 
and  the  glory  of  the  American  people.  But  of  the 
future  the  indications  can  only  be  gathered  from  the 
lessons  of  the  past.  Let  us  take  one  from  the  most 
splendid  era  of  antiquity. 

Two  thousand  four  hundred  years  ago,  the  Prince 
of  Babylon  walked  in  the  palace  of  that  mighty  city. 
Its  hundred  gates  of  brass  were  spread  around,  and 
the  vast  plain  about  was  filled  with  magnificence. 
Beneath,  rested  in  silence  that  city  whose  foundations 
were  laid  at  the  flood  ;  and  from  the  cloudless  heavens 
shone  the  same  bright  stars  upon  which  the  first  as 
tronomer  had  fixed  his  gaze.  The  beauty  of  the 
Chaldee's  excellency  was  there.  The  Prince  walked 
upon  those  battlements,  saw  that  splendor,  looked 
upon  those  countless  orbs,  and  gave  not  the  glory  to 
God.  Upon  the  plains  of  Dura  he  had  erected  a 
golden  image,  and  his  decree  went  forth  for  all  na 
tions,  and  people,  and  tongues  to  fall  down  and  wor 
ship  it.  And  now  as  he  walked  abroad  and  meditated 
in  his  heart,  he  said  :  "Is  not  this  great  Babylon  that 
/  have  built  for  the  house  of  the  kingdom,  by  the 
might  of  my  power  and  for  the  honor  of  my  majesty  ?" 
And  while  the  word  was  yet  in  his  mouth  a  voice 
from  heaven  came,  "  Thy  kingdom  has  departed  from 
thee  ;"  and  he  was  driven  out  from  among  men  :  he 
ate  grass  with  the  beasts  ;  his  hairs  grew  like  the 


204  AMERICAN   EDUCATION. 

eagles'  feathers,  and  seven  long  years  was  he  wet 
with  the  dews  of  heaven. 

His  understanding  returned  again,  and  he  sent 
forth  another  decree,  that  he  praised  the  God  of 
heaven,  "  whose  works  are  truth,  and  his  ways 
judgment,  and  those  that  walk  in  pride  he  is  able  to 
abase." 

But  the  Providence  which  ruled  in  that  nation  was 
to  be  written  in  a  still  more  terrible  and  enduring 
lesson.  Another  prince  rose  up  who  made  new  idols. 
He  drank  wine  in  the  presence  of  a  thousand  lords, 
and  called  upon  nobles  and  ladies  to  praise  the  gods 
of  gold  and  silver.  In  that  same  hour  the  bolt  of 
destruction  was  hurled  from  heaven,  and  the  glory  of 
the  Chaldees  departed  forever. 

Long  time  has  passed  since  these  scenes  were 
enacted  on  the  plains  of  ancient  Asia ;  but  history 
has  treasured  them  up  in  her  deepest  memories  ; 
poetry  has  clothed  them  in  numbers ;  painting  has 
transferred  them  to  the  canvas  ;  and  true  philosophy 
would  grave  them  on  the  human  heart. 

But  these  examples  of  human  folly  and  of  divine 
wrath  are  not  alone  :  they  are  units  among  millions. 
History  is  filled  with  monuments  ;  earth  is  strewed 
with  ruins.  Stranded  wrecks  lie  up  and  down  the 
highway  of  nations,  that  those  to  come  may  profit  by 
the  example.  But  if  history  be  full  of  terrors,  she  is 
also  full  of  hopes.  In  every  storm  there  has  been  a 
light  ahead;  green  islands  have  emerged  from  the 
watery  deep,  and  new  continents  acknowledged  the 


THE  SCIENCE  OP  LANGUAGE.  205 

dominion  of  mind.  Amidst  all  the  desolations  of  the 
external  world,  humanity  has  progressed ;  and  alike 
from  history,  from  prophecy,  and  Providence,  it  has 
the  promise  of  progress  —  of  progress  till  restored 
to  its  lost  estate ;  when  wisdom  and  knowledge 
shall  be  the  stability  of  the  nations,  and  the  spirit 
of  man  go  forth  as  spotless  in  beauty  as  it  is  immor 
tal  in  being. 


CHAPTER   IX. 

THE  SCIENCE  OF  LANGUAGE. 

"And  the  whole  earth  was  of  one  language." — Genesis. 

MAN,  the  last  and  noblest  work  of  creation,  was 
made  the  possessor  and  ruler  of  the  earth.  To  him 
was  given  the  dominion.*  This  implies,  in  itself,  the 
power  of  announcing  commands  intelligibly.  It  in 
cludes  the  power  of  designating  the  objects  upon  the 
earth ;  and  it  includes  the  greater  power  of  intellect 
ual  communications  between  mind  and  mind.  The 
means  by  which  this  is  done  easiest  and  best,  is  lan 
guage.  Accordingly,  the  Scriptures  say,  that  when 
God  had  created  man,  he  ''commanded  him,  saying ;"f 
a  phraseology  which  implies  the  use  of  language,  and 
that  it  was  naturally  and  spontaneously  understood 

*  Genesis,  ch.  1,  v.  26.  f  Genesis,  cli.  2,  v.  16. 


206  AMERICAN  EDUCATION. 

by  Adam.  So,  also,  God  brought  the  living  things  to 
Adam  to  see  what  he  would  call  them,  and  what  he 
called  them,  that  was  their  name. 

This  is  all  we  really  know  of  the  origin  of  lan 
guage.  But  it  is  enough  to  characterize  it  as  one  of 
the  highest  talents  of  man ;  at  once  an  instrument  of 
reason,  of  history,  and  of  progress. 


LANGUAGE  AN  INSTRUMENT   OF  REASON. 

It  is  not  my  intention  here  to  enter  into  the  con 
troversy  respecting  ancient  and  modern  languages. 
Language  is  a  universal  element,  and  its  great  prin 
ciples  can  be  studied  in  any  tongue  which  is  not 
absolutely  barbarian.  It  must  be  admitted,  however, 
that  the  most  perfect  model  of  language  is  that  in 
which  it  can  be  studied  to  the  most  advantage,  and 
which  will  give  the  most  accurate  conceptions  of 
universal  Grammar.  It  is  this  principle  which  has 
probably  retained  the  classic  languages  in  our  uni 
versities  long  after  the  period  in  which  they  had 
ceased  to  be  used,  except  as  a  means  of  education. 
Assuming  that  we  take  the  language  of  any  civilized 
nation  as  the  model  or  subject  for  the  study  of  lan 
guage,  let  us  consider  it  as  a  science,  by  means  of 
which  the  mind  is  to  be  developed.  Here  the  first 
thing  to  be  remarked  is,  that  this  study  develops  an 
entirely  new  class  of  reasoning  powers.  Heretofore 
we  have  considered  physical  science  only.  In  lan 
guage  we  begin  the  metaphysical ;  for  language  is  in 


THE  SCIENCE  OF  LANGUAGE.  207 

fact  the  bridge  which  leads  from  the  physical  to  the 
metaphysical  world,  so  far  as  reasoning  goes.  So 
true  is  this,  that  the  greatest  part  of  the  controversies 
in  metaphysics  have  arisen  from  the  use  of  different 
terms  to  express  the  same  idea,  the  various  interpre 
tation  of  the  same  terms,  and  the  want  of  terms  to 
express  a  precise  idea. 

^  The  science  of  language,  therefore,  develops  facul 
ties  of  the  mind,  which  would  otherwise  lie  dormant. 
It  leads  to  the  designation  and  separation  of  ideas 
independent  of  matter.  It  leads  to  criticism.  It 
leads  to  observation  upon  the  relations  of  mind  with 
matter,  and  of  mind  with  mind.  It  leads  to  the  clas 
sification  of  objects,  in  terms  distinct  from  matter. 
In  fine,  it  leads  to  a  higher  philosophy,  embracing 
objects  of  contemplation  without  and  beyond  the 
material  world.  Let  us  consider  for  a  moment  the 
process  of  reasoning  which  is  developed  in  the  study 
of  language.  Language,  to  one  who  has  never  thought 
of  it  as  a  study,  must  appear  a  chaos  of  words.  It 
has  come  to  him  naturally — his  mother-tongue — to 
use  these  words  to  designate  certain  things  ;  but  he 
has  never  dreamed  that  they  stand  in  fixed  scientific 
relations  to  one  another,  and  the  whole  language 
itself  was  but  a  sort  of  defined  picture  of  his  own 
mind !  He  has  employed  a  certain  sound,  or  com 
bination  of  sounds,  to  designate  objects ;  and  then,  by 
a  certain  flight  of  the  imagination,  he  has  symbolized 
certain  other  things  with  these.  Thus,  he  has  called 
a  species  of  bird  an  "  eagle,"  its  dark  color,  "  black  ;" 


208  AMERICAN  EDUCATION. 

and,  observing  that  this  is  a  war-bird,  he  has  called 
the  war-chief  of  his  nation  the  "Black  Eagle."  The 
first  terms  were  the  simple  designation  of  objects  by 
terms  applied  to  them :  the  last  was  an  abstraction 
of  those  terms  to  symbolize  very  different  objects. 
The  first  seems  to  be  the  result  of  a  simple  impulse 
of  man  to  name  things  :  the  second  is  the  exercise 
of  a  higher  quality — imagination.  From  the  moment 
this  second  step  is  taken,  mind  has  begun  to  ascend, 
although  it  be  only  that  of  an  untutored  savage.  It 
is  thus  that  language  is  constructed  by  the  develop 
ment  of  the  mind,  the  very  soul  of  man  itself.  The 
higher  the  growth,  the  more  extensive  the  elements 
of  civilization,  the  more  perfect  and  extensive  will  be 
language.  This  is  the  process  by  which  it  is  formed  : 
a  process  of  observation,  of  imagination,  of  reasoning, 
and  of  philosophy. 

When,  in  a  nation  of  high  civilization,  this  process 
has  been  carried  on  till  its  language  has  become  va 
rious,  extensive,  classified — embracing  all  the  subjects 
of  human  study,  and  the  finest  specimens  of  literature 
— then  the  structure  and  relations  of  that  language 
become  a  science  :  a  science  which  leads  us  into  the 
realms  of  metaphysics,  which  leads  through  refined 
processes  of  reasoning,  and  contemplates  the  highest 
objects  of  philosophy. 

CLASSIFICATION  OF    LANGUAGE. 

In  reasoning  upon  this  science,  we  must  take  it  in 
its  perfect  state  and  invert  the  order  of  its  formation. 


THE  SCIENCE   OF  LANGUAGE.  209 

To  the  unlettered  and  uninstructed  mind,  this  vast 
array  of  words  is  but  a  chaos.  It  is  like  the  material 
of  the  lofty  mountain ;  stones,  rocks,  minerals,  earth, 
water,  trees,  thrown  together,  without  apparent  form 
or  object.  But  the  geologist  or  mineralogist,  like  the 
mathematician,  gives  every  thing  a  name,  a  place,  a 
class.  Then  all  these  confused  objects  assume  a 
beautiful  order.  The  reason  detects  the  utility  of 
every  thing.  The  mind  is  charmed  with  these  new 
evidences  of  beauty  and  harmony  in  the  method  of 
creation. 

Language  is  of  later  date,  and  being  created,  in  a 
great  degree,  by  the  growth  of  man  himself,  is  more 
imperfect.  But,  in  reasoning  upon  it,  we  take  the 
same  mode,  and  are  charmed  with  the  same  kind  of 
results. 

For  example,  we  may  analyze  thus,  independent 
of  any  special  form  of  grammar :  suppose  we  would 
classify  the  words  of  language  as  a  universal  ele 
ment,  we  might  arrive  at  the  following  results,  as  an 
illustration  of  this  species  of  reasoning. 

1 .  How  many  universal  classes  of  words  are  there  ? 
This  leads  us  to  consider  how  many  objects  of  words 
there  are,  or  what  is  their  classification.  First,  we 
have  the  state  of  being,  whatever  that  is.  The  first 
idea  of  the  human  mind,  if  it  think  at  all,  is  existence. 
The  word  which  expresses  that  idea  is  essential  to  all 
language.  But  as  the  state  of  being  may  be  in  dif 
ferent  ways,  the  words  which  express  the  state  ol 
being  may  be  very  numerous,  and  thus  we  have  the 
14 


210  AMERICAN   EDUCATION. 

first  class  of  words  in  those  which  express  the  state  of 
being,  whatever  that  is. 

2.  Every  object,  whether  material  or  merely  intel 
lectual,  must  be  designated,  or  else  that  object  must 
float  loosely  in  the  mind,  without  any  means  of  iden 
tifying  it.     Hence,  the  next  class  of  words  are  those 
which  designate  objects,  or  words  of  designation. 

3.  All  objects  have  different  qualities,  not  merely 
attached  to  their  substance,  but  also  as  to  time  and 
degree.    The  next  class,  therefore,  of  words,  are  those 
which  qualify  other  words,  or  words  of  qualification. 

4.  These  classes  of  words,  in  order  to  constitute 
sentences,  or  express  more  than  a  simple  idea,  must 
be  connected  by  other  words,  which  serve  to  express 
the  kind  of  connection  they  have.     The  next  and 
last  class  of  words,  therefore,  is  words  of  connection — 
connectives. 

Thus,  however  complicated  or  however  simple  a 
language  may  be,  we  conclude,  by  reasoning  from 
the  nature  of  mind,  that  language  must  contain  four 
entirely  distinct  classes  of  words.  1.  Those  which 
express  a  state  of  being ;  2.  Those  which  designate 
objects  ;  3.  Those  which  express  a  qualification ; 
and,  4.  Those  which  connect  other  words. 

Now,  however  various  (from  the  rudest  to  the  most 
perfect)  are  the  grammars  of  different  languages,  yet 
grammarians  are  everywhere  obliged  to  adopt  this 
general  classification,  just  as  the  geologist  is  obliged  to 
adopt  general  classes  of  stratification  for  the  elemen 
tary  earths.  Then,  too,  a  circle  or  a  square  will  be 


THE  SCIENCE   OF  LANGUAGE.  211 

•f  -    ,     .  .      . 

the  same  things  to  a  mathematician  wherever  he  finds 
them,  or  in  whatever  language  they  may  be  called. 

The  state  of  being  is  the  same  thing  in  language, 
whatever  may  be  the  particular  word  which  expresses 
it.  In  Englis!  we  say,  "  I  am,"  and  in  Latin,  Sum; 
but  the  idea  expressed  is  the  same.  Thus  we  arrive 
at  the  idea  of  universal  grammar,  or  the  philosophy 
of  language.  Then  we  come  to  the  great  truth,  that 
it  is  the  soul  itself — the  mind  within — which  gives 
form  to  language  ;  and  although  it  applies  that  lan 
guage  to  the  rock  and  the  tree,  yet  the  language  ex 
presses  the  idea  of  the  mind,  and  is  classified  by  the 
mind  itself.  As  the  mind  grows  and  enlarges,  its 
language  becomes  more  abstract,  more  refined,  more 
metaphysical,  expressive  of  that  higher  philosophy 
and  those  nobler  objects  to  which  it  has  arrived  in 
its  continued  expansion.  As  in  the  beginning,  so 
now  the  soul  holds  dominion  over  matter,  and  makes 
its  language  the  expression  of  its  thoughts. 

Pursuing  this  train  of  reasoning  on  the  classifica 
tion  of  language,  we  find  that  the  word  which  ex 
presses  the  state  of  being  may  express  either  a  state 
of  action  or  a  state  of  passiveness.  Thus  we  have 
two  forms  of  the  same  word,  and  two  orders  of  the 
same  class.  Again  :  the  condition  of  being,  whether 
active  or  passive,  may  be  either  a  limited  or  an  un 
limited  existence,  a  positive  or  a  conditional  state, 
&c.  Thus  wre  have  different  modes  of  existence  ex 
pressed  by  forms  of  the  same  word.  Then,  in  look 
ing  a  little  further,  we  find  that  a  word  of  the  same 


212  AMERICAN  EDUCATION. 

class,  the  same  order,  and  the  same  mode,  may  be  in 
different  periods  of  time,  and  used  by  different  per 
sons.  These,  again,  afford  many  new  varieties  of  the 
same  word.  In  highly  finished  languages,  such  as  the 
Latin  and  Greek,  these  varieties  are  expressed  by 
different  terminations  of  the  same  root.  In  the  Latin 
verb  amo  (love)  there  are  one  hundred  and  eighty 
varieties  or  terminations  of  the  same  original  root ! 
Thus  we  find  by  this  analysis,  that  language  is  con 
tinually  expanding  to  meet  the  exigencies  of  thought 
and  the  progress  of  the  human  mind. 

The  reasoning  upon  language  thus  becomes  an 
analytical  examination  of  the  composition  of  thought 
through  the  composition  of  words,  by  which  it  is  ex 
pressed.  It  differs  from  the  analysis  of  quantities  by 
being  the  analysis  of  ideas  abstracted  from  quantity. 
The  utility  of  the  study  of  the  science  of  language 
consists  largely  in  furnishing  the  student  with  a  new 
method  of  reasoning,  and  calling  other  faculties  into 
exercise.  It  is  for  this  cause  that  the  study  of  lan 
guage  has  ever  been  considered,  and  is  really  one  of 
the  most  solid  foundations  of  a  sound  and  thorough 
education. 


THE  SCIENCE  OF  LANGUAGE  IS  AN  ILLUSTRATION  OF 
HISTORY. 

The  language  of  any  one  civilized  nation,  critically 
studied,  will  illustrate  in  a  very  striking  manner  the  in 
tellectual  history  of  that  nation.  On  language,  as 
much  as  on  anv  element  of  hnn>;m  society,  is  marked 


THE  SCIENCE   OF  LANGUAGE.  213 

mutability  :  this  is  a  necessity  of  its  existence.  From 
what  I  have  said,  it  seems  obvious  that  language 
grows  with  the  growth  of  a  nation,  and  receives  an 
increase  of  words  with  an  increase  of  ideas.  But 
the  language  of  a  people  also  suffers  great  changes 
from  political  shocks.  A  foreign  invader  introduces 
new  men,  new  laws,  and  new  customs,  which  in  time 
engraft  on  the  language  new  words  expressive  of 
these  new  ideas. 

No  language  is  a  better  study  in  this  respect  than 
the  American.  It  is  almost  identical  with  the  Eng 
lish,  having  an  addition  of  some  words  local  and  pe 
culiar  to  America.  The  changes  in  the  structure  and 
vocabulary  of  this  language  express  to  a  critical 
student  all  the  great  changes  which  the  English  and 
Anglo-American  people  have  undergone.  If,  for  ex 
ample,  we  take  specimens  of  our  language  in  each 
one  hundred  years  since  the  Christian  era,  we  shall 
find  that  in  each  hundred  years  it  has  received  addi 
tions,  or  undergone  changes,  which  decidedly  modi 
fied  both  its  words  and  idiom.  If  we  look  further 
into  the  periods  when  the  most  marked  changes  have 
occurred,  we  shall  find  that  they  have  been  greater 
or  less,  just  in  proportion  as  the  changes  in  society 
have  been  greater  or  less.  Thus,  the  greatest  change 
in  the  language  occurred  from  the  thirteenth  to  the 
sixteenth  century,  when  English  society  was  emerg 
ing  from  the  ignorance  and  rudeness  of  the  middle 
ages  to  the  brightness  of  the  Elizabethan  era. 

But  when  we  come  to  examine  the  vocabulary  of 


214  AMERICAN  EDUCATION. 

the  Anglo-American  tongue  in  reference  to  its  roots, 
we  shall  find  still  clearer  evidence  of  great  historical 
changes.  Political  shocks  have  impressed  themselves 
on  the  language.  The  vestiges  of  all  the  English 
revolutions  are  there  ;  volumes  of  words  have  been 
introduced  by  conquest ;  while  the  classic  student, 
like  Milton,  has  been  compelled  to  supply  the  defects 
of  his  own  vernacular,  by  borrowing  largely  from  the 
storehouses  of  ancient  literature. 

An  examination  of  our  language  by  the  most 
learned  men  shows  that  nearly  one-third  the  words 
are  derived  directly  or  indirectly  from  the  Latin ; 
that  another  large  share  (and  those  the  words  in  most 
common  use)  are  what  is  called  Anglo-Saxon,,  or 
Germanic  ;  that  another  portion  are  Norman-French; 
that  others  are  Danish  ;  and  that  there  are  many  of 
the  ancient  British  or  Celtic. 

From  these  facts  one  might  infer,  almost  by  a 
strict  demonstration,  the  historical  changes  which 
the  people  had  undergone.  Thus  the  first  and  great 
est  conquest  of  Britain  was  by  the  Romans,  the  re 
mains  of  whose  works  and  fortifications  are  scattered 
over  the  island  to  this  day.  The  Roman  conquest 
directly,  and  the  Norman  conquest  indirectly,  and 
finally,  the  prevalence  of  Latin  literature  during  the 
middle  ages,  introduced  our  large  stock  of  Latin 
words.  The  next  conquest  was  by  the  various  in 
vasions  of  the  Teutonic  tribes,  the  Angles,  Saxons, 
and  Danes,  making  an  entire  revolution  in  the  coun 
try,  and  establishing  the  prevalence  of  the  Saxon 


THE  SCIENCE   OF   LANGUAGE.  215 

tongue  and  people.  Hence  we  have  the  Anglo- 
Saxon  language  for  a  long  time  predominant  in  the 
country.  Next  came  the  Norman  conquest,  and  for 
a  time  the  Norman-French  was  the  language  of  edu 
cated  people.  It  was  not  till  the  thirteenth  century 
that  the  English  tongue  began  to  assume  any  regular 
form ;  and  it  was  not  till  three  centuries  after,  in  the 
days  of  Elizabeth,  that  it  took  the  form  in  idiom  and 
structure  which  it  now  possesses.  The  Lord's 
Prayer,  as  written  and  used  in  each  successive  pe 
riod,  has  been  preserved,  and  makes  a  very  good 
standard  of  the  changes  which  have  taken  place  in  the 
common  language.* 

LANGUAGE  IS  THE  RECORD  OF  SOCIAL  PROGRESS. 

The  science  of  language,  properly  studied,  affords 
the  very  best  record  of  human  progress.  This  will 
appear  evident  from  the  consideration  of  two  very 
plain  principles. 

1.  It  is  manifest  that  if  a  people  have  no  knowledge 
of  a  given  science,  or  no  ideas  on  a  given  subject, 
that  then  that  people  can  have  no  words  to  express 
the  terms  or  ideas  of  that  subject  or  science  :    it  is  a 
blank  in  fact,  and  a  blank  in  language. 

2.  If  a  people,  at  any  period  in  their  history,  begin 
to  acquire  knowledge  of  a  subject,  and  think  upon 
it,  then  they  also  begin  to  acquire  a  corresponding 

*  Sharon  Turner's  History  of  England  has  a  very  good  history 
of  the  progress  of  the  English  language. 


AMERICAN   EDUCATION. 


language.  They  will  have  words  to  express  their 
meaning.  Thus  the  accession  of  new  words  and 

o 

phrases  proves  conclusively  the  accession  of  new 
knowledge  and  new  ideas.  The  American  language 
affords  a  fine  illustration  of  this  progress  in  the  growth 
of  the  public  mind.  By  reference  to  Webster's 
American  Dictionary,  and  an  analysis  of  terms,  am 
ple  proof  will  be  found  to  sustain,  as  illustrations  of 
the  principle,  the  introduction  of  entire  classes  of 
words,  in  consequence  of  the  introduction  of  a  new 
branch  of  knowledge.  Thus,  take  the  following  ex 
amples  : 

1st.  The  Greek  words  in  our  language  are  almost 
all  terms  of  art  or  science,  introduced  because  that 
art  or  science  was  introduced  from  Greece.  The 
science  of  medicine  has  taken  almost  all  its  terms 
from  the  Greek,  because  the  knowledge  of  medicine 
as  a  science  was  derived  from  Greece  ;  physic, 
physiology,  osteology,  &c.,  are  Greek  words,  and  so 
of  a  very  large  number  of  medical  terms. 

2dly.  The  terms  of  the  art  of  war  are  derived 
chiefly  from  the  French,  because  the  French  have 
been  the  great  cultivators  of  what  may  be  called  the 
science  of  war  ;  the  terms  were  introduced  into  Eng 
land  with  the  study  of  this  science.  For  example,  the 
words  fort—  fortify  —  bastion  —  glacis  —  parapet,  &c., 
are  introduced  from  the  French. 

3dly.  Terms  connected  with  the  art  of  printing 
have  been  multiplied  since  the  invention  of  printing. 
The  word  to  print  is  derived  from  the  French  im- 


THE  SCIENCE  OF  LANGUAGE.  217 

primer;  but  most  of  the  words  connected  with 
printing  are  derived  from  the  Latin,  and  used  in  a 
figurative  sense. 

4t.hly.  Terms  of  steam  navigation  are  now  rapidly 
increasing,  many  of  which  are  entirely  new,  and  in 
troduced  within  the  present  generation.  Thus  the 
words  steamer — steaming — wooding— fire-up,  &c.,  in 
the  manner  in  which  they  are  used,  are  all  new. 
Such  words  must  rapidly  accumulate,  till  they  form 
a  numerous  class. 

5thly.  Terms  derived  from  the  construction  of  rail 
roads  are  also  numerous ;  for  example,  locomotive — 
freight  cars — the  train — the  conductor,  &c.  Many 
of  these  words  were  already  in  existence,  but  the  ap 
plication  of  them  is  entirely  new,  and  we  thus  give 
them  a  new  meaning. 

6thly.  Terms  of  politics  and  law  are  also  rapidly 
increasing,  and  have  meanings  which  they  could  not 
possibly  have  had  before  the  present  century.  Of 
political  terms  we  have  such  as  these  :  caucus — clique 
— ballot — congress — convention — quorum — legal  ten 
der — test-act — stump-speaking,  &c.,  &c.  The  vo 
cabulary  of  politics  has  been  immensely  extended  by 
a  class  of  words  which  could  have  no  existence  be 
fore  the  formation  of  democratic  governments  ;  there 
are  many  of  these  peculiar  to  America ;  others  are 
peculiar  to  England,  such  as  the  word  hustings,  &c. 
The  law  terms  were  mostly  introduced  by  the  Nor 
man  conquest,  when,  for  a  time,  the  language  of  the 
law  courts  was  the  Norman- French.  But  there  are 


218  AMERICAN   EDUCATION. 

numerous  terms  introduced  since,  and  which  mark 
great  and  important  changes  in  the  elements  of  soci 
ety.  For  example,  we  havejui^y — grand-jury — par 
liament — indictment — impeachment,  &c.,  indicating 
that  the  government  of  England  has  been  completely 
changed  since  the  days  of  William  the  Norman. 

7thly.  Another  and  very  numerous  class  of  words 
are  continually  introduced  by  the  new  ideas  and 
moral  changes  created  by  the  action  of  religion  and 
society.  Christianity  makes  a  new  mark  with  each 
new  generation,  and  continually  develops  its  irre 
pressible  energy  and  its  dominant  influence.  Thus 
we  have  missions — missionaries — tracts — colpor 
teurs,  and  hundreds  of  words,  brought  out  by  the 
Christian  action  of  the  last  half  century.  Society, 
too,  gives  names  to  its  changes,  its  doctrines,  its  new 
sects,  and  novel  ideas ;  thus  we  have  Mormons — 
Mormonism  — Socialists  — Socialism —  strikes  — radi 
cals,  and  a  host  of  terms,  which  originate  in  some 
new  movement  of  society. 

Thus  we  see  that  language  records  in  its  vocabu 
lary  and  embodies  in  its  own  substance  the  revo 
lutions  of  society,  the  increase  of  knowledge,  the 
inventions  of  genius,  and  the  progress  of  art,  society, 
and  religion.  It  does  this,  though  no  historian  should 
make  up  the  record ;  though  no  poet  should  sing  the 
praises  of  glory  achieved ;  though  man  should  leave 
no  monuments  to  perpetuate  his  growth  and  great 
ness.  If  the  language  lives,  it  carries  in  itself  the 
record  of  his  acts  and  his  improvements. 


THK    SCiLNCE    OF   LANGUAGE.  219 

Language  is,  therefore,  the  record  of  PROGRESS,  a* 
I  have  already  shown  it  to  be  the  instrument  of 
reason  and  the  voice  of  history. 

It  is  the  science  of  language  which  develops  these 
facts,  and  by  analysis,  the  comparison  of  vocabularies, 
and  the  philosophy  of  structure,  demonstrates  these 
beautiful  truths,  and  exhibits  language  as  the  expres 
sion  of  the  soul — as  clothing  itself  with  this  delicate, 
elastic,  and  refined  garment,  in  which  to  appear  in 
the  visible  and  tangible  world. 

Among  the  languages  accessible  to  an  American 
student  for  the  purpose  of  an  American  education, 
none  can  be  superior  to  our  own.  Other  languages, 
such  as  the  Greek  and  Roman,  have  been  far  more 
perfect  in  their  form  and  structure  ;  others  have  been 
more  homogeneous ;  others  have  been  more  musical ; 
but  the  English- American  is  superior  to  them  all  in 
strength  and  copiousness.  It  contains  within  itself 
the  best  words  of  the  Latin,  the  Saxon,  and  the 
French ;  its  vast  vocabulary  affords  an  almost  bound 
less  range  of  words  and  phrases  in  which  to  clothe 
almost  any  shade  of  thought,  or  adapted  to  any  new 
form  of  ideas.  Accordingly,  we  find  the  most  splen 
did  diction  of  modern  literature  in  the  classic  authors 
of  England.  What  can  surpass  the  magnificent  dress 
in  which  Milton,  and  Bacon,  and  Shakspeare  clothed 
their  admirable  thoughts  ?  Well  may  an  Englishman 
boast  that 

"  Chatham's  language  was  his  mother-tongue  1" 


'220  AMERICAN   EDUCATION. 


CHAPTER    X. 

LITERATURE  A  MEANS  OF  EDUCATION. 

" There  studious  let  me  sit, 

And  hold  high  converse  with  the  mighty  dead; 

Sages  of  ancient  time,  as  gods  revered, 

As  gods  beneficent,  who  bless'd  mankind 

With  arts,  with  arms,  and  humanized  a  world."—  Thomson. 

LITERATURE  is  the  written  expression  of  human 
thoughts  embodied  in  various  forms  of  composi 
tion.  Hence  it  includes  all  of  learning,  except  what 
is  contained  in  books  of  science  and  books  of  busi 
ness.  These  last  are  indeed  compositions  ;  but  are 
the  expression  of  fact  rather  than  of  thought  or  fancy. 
Hence,  too,  literature  embraces  history,  poetry,  criti 
cism,  essays,  novels,  stories,  biographies,  travels,  and, 
in  fine,  the  whole  body  of  those  books  which  consti 
tute  the  reading  of  a  people.  Now,  to  that  part  of 
the  people  who  are  educated  at  all,  this  makes  the 
chief,  and  perhaps  the  most  influential,  part  of  their 
education  ;  yet  this  great  teacher — literature — is  al 
lowed  to  instruct  his  pupils  hap-hazard,  or  perhaps 
not  instruct  them  at'  all !  I  think  that  nearly  all  the 
youth  of  the  country  are  left  entirely  to  chance  in 
the  direction  of  their  reading,  and  allowed  to  read  or 
not  read — to  read  this  or  to  read  that — as  their  own 


LITERATURE  A  MEANS  OF  EDUCATION.  221 

discretion,  or  rather  taste,  may  select.  This  indif 
ference  to  what  is  read  in  the  course  of  education 
arises,  I  think,  from  too  low  an  estimate  of  the  gen 
eral  influence  of  literature  on  the  character  of  the 
mind.  It  is  not  so  much  the  fact  as  the  shade  of 
thought  expressed  in  a  book,  which  does  good  or 
evil.  An  important  and  serious  truth  may  be  stated 
in  two  books  ;  but  the  first  states  it  with  a  reverence 
and  a  tone  of  sincerity,  which  shows  the  writer's 
conviction  of  its  weight  and  verity ;  the  second  states 
it  in  a  tone  of  levity  or  irony,  which  shows  that  the 
truth  is  not  believed,  though  the  writer  may  directly 
state  it.  In  the  second  case  there  can  be  no  charge 
of  falsehood  upon  the  book  ;  but  he  who  reads  it  can 
not  divest  his  mind  of  the  skeptical  sneer  which  ac 
companied  the  announcement  even  of  the  most  posi 
tive  truth.  His  spirit  will  on  that  subject  be  poisoned 
with  the  subtle  influence  which  the  mind  can  so 
readily  throw  even  into  words  the  most  simple  and 
innocent ;  so  the  gay  and  licentious  poet  throws  a  re 
pulsive  dress  over  virtue,  and  clothes  with  unusual 
charms  and  seductive  graces  the  form  of  vice,  which, 
if  seen  naked,  would  be  hideous  to  all  eyes :  electri 
city  itself  is  not  more  subtle  in  its  motions,  or  more 
vivid  and  striking  in  its  effects,  than  is  thought,  in 
sinuating  itself  into  the  most  unsuspected  language, 
and  fascinating  in  the  most  brilliant  pages  of  litera 
ture.  It  is  to  show,  in  a  brief  sketch,  the  import 
ance  of  this  element  of  education,  that  I  write  this 
chapter. 


222  AMERICAN  EDUCATION. 


LITERATURE  AN  EXPRESSION  OF  THOUGHT. 

I  have  already  defined  literature  as  the  written 
expression  of  thought.  But  what  is  thought  ?  It  is 
not  a  mere  fact ;  that  fact  may  exist  whether  we 
think  of  it  or  not.  It  is  not  a  mere  truth ;  that  truth 
will  exist,  whether  we  think  at  all  or  not.  Thought 
is  made  up  of  all  those  ideas,  images,  fancies,  spirit 
ual  operations,  which  fill  up,  and  furnish,  and  inhabit 
the  vast  regions  of  the  spirit.  How  vast,  how  ten 
anted,  how  multitudinous,  or  how  solitary  —  how 
brief  in  time,  or  how  far  wandering  through  the 
chambers  of  eternity,  no  science  and  no  history  can 
disclose.  They  make  up  the  volume  of  that  great 
mystery  which  shall  never  to  this  mortal  world  be 
opened ! 

The  spirit,  being  gifted  with  a  language  which  can 
be  understood  by  its  fellow-spirits  on  earth,  and  hav 
ing  sympathies  which  long  to  go  forth  and  be  under 
stood,  UTTERS  its  voice  in  written  language,  discloses 
voluntarily  a  part  of  its  thoughts — a  small,  broken, 
vista-like  picture  of  that  internal  world  of  images, 
idealities,  visions  of  the  day,  and  dreams  of  the  night, 
which  have  been  wandering  to  and  fro  through  his 
soul !  The  poet  utters  his  fancies  in  the  melody  ot 
verse — 

"  Presenting  Thebes'  or  Pelops'  line, 
Or  the  tale  of  Troy  divine." 


LITERATURE  A  MEANS  OF  EDUCATION.  223 

The  philosopher  seeks  to  unsphere 

"  The  spirit  of  Plato,  to  unfold 
What  worlds  or  what  vast  regions  hold 
The  immortal  mind  that  hath  forsook 
Her  mansion  in  this  fleshly  nook." — 

The  novelist  rears  castles  in  the  air,  fills  them  with 
imaginary  beings,  moves  them  like  the  puppets  of  a 
show,  and  causes  them  to  weep  or  to  rejoice  in  fan 
cied  woes  or  fancied  joys.  Thus,  some  wizard 
SCOTT  fills  the  bright  world  of  ideality  with  sto 
ries 

"  Of  tourneys,  and  of  trophies  hung, 
Of  forests  and  enchantments  drear, 
Where  more  is  meant  than  meets  the  ear." 

But  it  is  not  the  writers  of  visions  who  alone  pic 
ture  forth  the  internal  world  of  thought.  The  histo 
rian  weaves  round  the  most  naked  facts  the  most 
beautiful  dress  which  his  own  brilliant  intellect  can 
produce.  The  bleakest  rock  of  the  world's  cold  real 
ities  rises  before  you  clothed  with  the  softest  verdure 
of  his  own  spirit.  It  is  thus  that  literature  is  the 
continual  utterance  of  voices  from  the  internal  world ; 
and  this  is  the  reason  why  the  brightest,  but  most 
sensitive  spirits,  like  to  steal  time  from  the  world,  to 
retire  in  some  secluded  hour  from  the  delusions  of 
actual  life,  to  commune  with  these  spirits  of  the  past 
— to  hear  these  voices  from  invisible  societies,  and 
call  around  them  the  great  souls  of  the  mighty 
dead ! 


224  AMERICAN   EDUCATION. 

In  the  unperverted  state  of  the  human  mind,  when 
the  tastes  are  not  drawn  away  by  sensual  pleasures, 
when  nature  presents  nothing  but  objects  of  delight 
ful  contemplations,  there  can  be  no  doubt  that  to  a 
mind  having  the  elements  of  intellectual  education, 
the  pleasures  of  reading  are  the  most  attractive 
among  those  which  originate  in  human  society. 
The  beauties  of  nature  are  enhanced  by  a  knowledge 
of  the  observations  and  discoveries  of  others ;  while 
a  world  of  new  visions,  the  dreams  of  other  minds, 
the  utterances  of  other  voices,  the  travels  of  other 
spirits,  the  pictures  of  other  lands — come  over  the 
young  dreamer,  as  if  the  veil  had  been  drawn  from 
the  face  of  a  new  and  even  more  beautiful  creation. 
The  kaleidescope  does  not  present  with  its  fragments 
of  glass  and  beads,  more  broken,  distorted,  and  par 
tial  views,  than  does  our  literature  of  the  human 
mind.  Yet  neither  does  the  kaleidescope  present 
them  half  so  brilliant,  half  so  various,  or  so  beautiful. 
It  is  the  panorama  of  a  world,  where,  in  distant 
glimpses,  the  spirit  catches  for  a  moment  an  idea  of 
the  eternal  and  the  immortal ! 

All  that  we  have  preserved  of  this  ideal  world  is 
written.  It  is  literature.  It  is  "  thoughts  that  breathe 
and  words  that  burn,"  in  Tully's  voice  and  Virgil's 
lay.  This  literature  is,  therefore,  in  fact,  the  written 
expression  of  thought.  Let  us  now  consider  briefly 
what  this  literature  actually  does  in  forming  and  edu 
cating  the  human  mind. 


LITERATURE   A  MEANS    OF    EDUCATION.  225 


LITERATURE  IN  FORMING  STYLE. 

In  any  use  of  speech,  either  by  conversation  or 
writing,  there  is  a  manner  of  expression  called  style. 
This  might  be  called,  in  mathematical  terms,  the 
general  formula  which  the  mind  assumes  for  the  ex 
pression  of  thought  in  sentences  and  paragraphs.  It 
is  not,  indeed,  exactly  the  same  in  every  instance ; 
but  is  the  outline  to  which  the  writer  adapts  the  ex 
pression  of  his  thoughts.  Thus  every  distinguished 
and  eminent  author  has  a  style  of  his  own — a  style 
which  distinguishes  him  from  most,  if  not  all  other 
authors.  This  style  is  the  creature  of  literature.  It 
is  a  combination  of  both  art  and  nature.  In  a  high 
state  of  civilization  we  might  as  well  think  of  dis 
pensing  with  the  ornaments  of  dress,  of  furniture,  and 
of  houses,  as  to  dispense  with  that  ornament  and  re 
finement  of  style  which  is  the  creation  of  high  artistic 
skill. 

There  are  two  things  to  be  considered  here,  in  ref 
erence  to  the  formation  of  style  :  first,  the  advantage 
of  a  good  style,  either  in  writing  or  speaking ;  and 
next,  the  influence  of  literature  in  forming  style. 

Style  is  like  dress  or  manners.  It  is  that  which 
adorns  and  sets  forth  in  pleasing  colors  the  original 
thought,  however  barren  or  meagre  that  thought  may 
really  be.  The  power  of  dress  in  making  an  ugly 
form  agreeable  is  well  known.  The  still  greater 
power  of  elegant  and  pleasing  manners  to  conciliate 
antipathies,  to  disarm  jealousy,  to  charm  the  simple, 
15 


226  AMERICAN  EDUCATION. 

to  overcome  prejudice,  and  to  attract  all  beholders, 
is  well  illustrated  by  all  observation  and  all  history. 
Great  as  these  charms  may  be,  the  charm  of  style  is 
even  greater.      It  is  almost  impossible  to  over-esti 
mate  the  effect   of  the   eloquence   of  style   on  the 
mass  of  readers  ;   it  is  almost  impossible  to  conceive 
how  much  meagreness  of  matter  it  has  concealed ; 
how  much  rotundity  it  has  given  to  slender  thoughts  ; 
how  much  evil  principle  it  has  draped  in  magnificent 
robes ;    how  it  has  imparted  the  melody  of  music  to 
the  beatings  of  a  drum-head,  and  given  to  vapid  va- 
porings  the  solemn  gait  of  wisdom.      The  world  lit 
tle  knows  how  much  more  is  due  to  the  art  of  author 
ship  than  to  the  genius  which  is  supposed  to  dwell  in 
that  eloquent  page  so  praised  and  so  admired !     The 
reader  of  elegant  literature  is  seldom  suspicious  :    he 
pursues  his  literary  walk  for  pleasure.      He  asks  not 
what  qualities  of  life  or  death   may  be  found  in  the 
blooming  flowers  of  orange  and  crimson  which  over 
hang  his  head  :  he  asks  not  whether  it  be  the  pine  or 
the  hemlock  which  sheds  this  dark  and  solemn  ver 
dure,  so  soothing  and  so  calm,  in  this  his  quiet  path. 
This  solemn  shade  of  verdure,  this  brilliant  bloom  01 
flowers,  this  garniture  of  all  rich  and   magnificent 
foliage,  alarms  him  eo  more  than  if  this  had  been  the 
Eden  of  the  first  creation.. 

As  I  have  defined  literature  to  be  the  expression 
of  thought,  it  may  be  said  that  there  must  at  least  be 
thought,  and  that  thought  must  be  obvious.  It  is 
true,  there  must  be  thought ;  but  what  proportion 


LITERATURE  A  MEANS   OF   EDUCATION.  227 

there  may  be  of  thought  to  expression,  and  how  much 
more  of  the  latter  than  the  former,  and  how  much 
more  of  beauty  there  may  be  in  the  style  than  in  the 
thought,  are  very  different  questions.      Every  reader 
knows  that  a  thought  may  be  distinctly  expressed  in 
a  single  sentence,  and  that  it  may  also  be  spread  over 
an  entire  page— appearing  more  beautiful  than  in  its 
merely  isolated  annunciation.      In  the  last  case,  the 
thought   is    connected    with   brilliant    epithets    and 
pleasing  metaphors.      It  is  very  easy  to  illustrate  the 
influence  of  style  in  magnifying  small  thoughts,  or 
gilding  the  most  vicious  sentiments.     Unfortunately, 
all   literature,  ancient  and  modern,  is  full  of  most 
striking  examples  of  this  literary  vice.     I  will  briefly 
cite  two  of  the  most  popular  specimens  of  English 
literature.     Take,  for  example,  Pope's  beautiful  poem, 
"  Eloisa  to  Abelard,"  purporting  to  be  a  poetic  ver 
sion  of  Eloisa's  letters.      It  is  difficult  to  find  any 
composition  more  filled  with  music  than  this,  or  more 
filled  with  the  beauties  of  style,  yet  the  number  of 
ideas  in  it  are  very  small ;    almost  the  whole  piece  is 
the  expression  of  a  single  feeling— her  passion  for 
Abelard— and  that  passion  is  represented  by  herself 
as  gross  and  animal.      The  piece  is  a  signal  example 
of  the   attractions  of  style    and  melody  in  poetry. 
In  the  midst  of  her  lamentations,  Eloisa  exclaims— 

"  How  oft,  when  press'd  to  marriage,  have  I  said, 
Curse  on  all  laws  but  those  which  love  has  made ! 
Love,  free  as  air,  at  sight  of  human  ties 
Spreads  his  light  wings,  and  in  a  moment  flies. 


228  AMERICAN   EDUCATION. 

Let  wealth,  let  honor,  wait  the  wedded  dame, 
August  her  deed,  and  sacred  b%  her  fame ; 
Before  true  passion  all  those  views  remove ; 
Fame,  wealth,  and  honor !  what  are  you  to  love  ?" 

For  sentiments  like  these,  some  modern  reformers, 
who  may  have  borrowed  them  from  this  poem,  have 
been  made  infamous.  The  world  has  rejected  this 
theory  of  love,  and  the  eloquent  language  of  Eloisa 
may  now  be  quoted  to  point  a  moral  and  adorn  a  tale. 
The  poem  is  an  illustration  of  the  effect  of  style  ;  a 
small  amount  of  sentiment,  and  that  bad,  is  made 
beautiful  by  the  splendor  of  diction  and  the  melody 
of  verse. 

Another  example  may  be  found  in  the  famous 
letters  of  Junius:  it  is  true  that  there  is  vigorous 
thought  in  them,  that  they  appealed  to  principles  of 
liberty,  and  that  they  seized  upon  some  public  abuses ; 
but  suppose  that  all  that  is  either  fact,  principle,  or 
sentiment  in  those  letters,  had  been  written  in  plain, 
unpretending  style,  would  they  have  lived  beyond  the 
day  of  publication?  It  was  the  pointed  antithesis, 
the  bitter  irony,  the  apt  metaphor,  the  personal  ma 
lignity,  which  was  worked  up  and  polished  into  the 
most  powerful  style,  that  excited  the  wonder  and  ad 
miration  of  the  reader. 

It  may  be  thought  that  few  persons  need  style,  be 
cause  few  will  be  called  on  to  write.  If  this  idea  be 
true  of  other  countries,  it  is  not  true  of  the  United 
States ;  here  every  educated  person  is,  in  some  form, 
called  to  use  the  pen.  Take,  for  example,  the  vast 


LITERATURE  A  MEANS  OF  EDUCATION.  2*29 

number  of  political  documents,  resolutions,  essays,  &c., 
which  are  every  year  prepared  by  large  numbers  of 
persons ;  then  consider  how  many  persons  are  in  a 
few  years  engaged  in  public  affairs — how  many  are 
obliged  to  prepare  public  writings.  Nothing  can  bet 
ter  illustrate  the  value  of  a  literary  education,  than 
the  sad  figure  which  some  of  our  high  state  function 
aries  have  been  compelled  to  make  in  public !  The 
messages  of  some  governors,  the  reports  of  some  state 
officers,  and  the  speeches  in  our  legislatures,  are  many 
of  them  so  coarse  in  language,  so  confused  in  style, 
and  so  absurd  in  their  statements,  that  it  is  well  they 
are  soon  lost  in  the  mass  of  ephemeral  rubbish,  and 
cannot  be  quoted  as  specimens  of  American  litera 
ture.  On  the  other  hand,  many  of  our  public  docu 
ments  are  among  the  most  beautiful  specimens  of 
literary  compositions ;  and  it  is  in  these,  chiefly,  must 
be  sought  the  true  American  literature.  Jefferson, 
De  Witt  Clinton,  and  John  Quincy  Adams  have 
scarcely  been  surpassed  in  strength,  beauty,  and  ele 
gance  of  style,  by  any  modern  writers. 

It  is  obvious,  from  what  I  have  said,  that  the  art  of 
writing  in  a  clear  style  is  of  great  practical  use,  espe 
cially  in  this  country,  and  this  art  is  necessary  to  a 
large  number  of  persons. 

The  second  remark  to  be  made  on  this  subject  is, 
that  this  art  is  to  be  acquired  as  much  by  the  exam 
ple  of  the  best  authors,  as  in  any  other  mode.  Lit 
erature  furnishes  the  best  models  of  style ;  and  it  is  a 
familiar  acquaintance  with  these  authors,  and  partic- 


230  AMERICAN   EDUCATION. 

ularly  a  critical  examination  of  their  works,  which 
will  best  exhibit  to  a  student  the  art  of  composition. 
I  say  the  art;  for  it  is  unquestionably  true  that  the 
value  of  a  composition  will  depend  on  the  matter 
which  is  in  it,  rather  than  the  dress  in  which  it  is 
clothed.  It  is  equally  true  that,  at  last,  every  writer 
will  have  his  own  style,  because  it  is  a  property  of 
each  individual  mind  to  think  in  its  own  way.  It  is 
somewhere  said  that  when  Gibbon  was  preparing 
himself  to  write  the  Decline  and  Fall  of  Rome,  he 
.sought  to  acquire  a  style  fitted  to  the  dignity  of  the 
subject :  he  preferred  the  simplicity  of  Hume,  but 
said  he  could  not  imitate  it ;  he  next  admired  Rob 
ertson,  and  thought  he  could  model  himself  upon  his 
style.  The  result  was,  he  had  the  style  of  neither, 
but  formed  to  himself  a  peculiar  and  yet  more  gor 
geous  drapery  of  language.  Beyond  doubt,  however, 
he  studied  style,  and  gained  much  from  the  example 
of  others. 

Our  conclusion,  then,  must  be,  that  literature  is  an 
expression  of  thought,  but  the  mode  of  expression  may 
be  very  various  ;  and  that  a  finished  and  refined  style 
is  an  achievement  of  art. 


LITERATURE  THE  GUIDE  OF  IMAGINATION. 

IMAGINATION  is  the  most  excursive,  the  freest,  and, 
if  we  may  so  speak,  the  most  originating  faculty  of 
the  human  mind.  It  is  that  faculty  which,  at  the  in 
stigation,  or  rather  permission  of  the  will,  wanders 


LITERATURE  A  MEANS  OF  EDUCATION.  231 

forth  to  gather  up  or  to  discover,  or  to  frame  out  of 
its  present  materials,  new  images  of  things  real  or 
unreal,  of  things  possible  or  impossible,  the  creatures 
of  a  visionary  world.  The  objects  of  ambition,  of 
future  fortune,  fame,  glory,  happiness,  so  continually 
presented  to  the  mind  of  aspiring  youth,  are  creatures 
of  the  imagination;  they  are  the  images  of  the  future, 
called  up  to  excite  the  intellect  and  impel  the  ener 
gies  ;  they  may  be  realized,  because  there  are  such 
realities,  but  at  the  time  they  thus  float  in  beautiful 
array  before  the  spiritual  vision,  they  are  but  images. 
These  images  are  innumerable,  and  the  power  of  the 
imagination  to  call  them  up  is  most  beautifully  de 
scribed  in  the  Castle  of  Indolence  :  one  of  the  tenants 
of  the  Castle  is  represented  as  passing  his  days  in 
sauntering  about,  and  often  musing  amidst  twilight 
shadows : 

"  Yet  not  in  thoughtless  slumber  were  they  past ; 
For  oft  the  heavenly  fire,  that  lay  conceal'd 
Beneath  the  sleeping  embers,  mounted  fast, 
And  all  its  native  light  anew  reveal'd. 
Oft  as  he  travers'd  the  cerulean  field, 
And  markt  the  clouds  that  drove  before  the  -wind, 
Ten  thousand  glorious  systems  would  he  build, 
Ten  thousand  great  ideas  fill'd  his  mind ; 
But  with  the  clouds  they  fled,  and  left  no  trace  behind !" 

This  faculty  of  the  imagination,  wild,  lawless,  and 
originating  as  it  is,  is  not  so  lawless  and  so  original 
as  to  be  wholly  unlimited  or  irresponsible ;  on  the 
contrary,  there  are  two  great  intellectual  facts  to  be 
recognized  in  reference  to  the  imagination,  which  are 


232  AMERICAN   EDUCATION. 

of  vast  importance  in  forming  a  just  view  of  the 
means  of  education,  and  just  views  of  the  constitution 
of  the  human  understanding 

1.  The  imagination  does  not  create  any  new  ma- 
terials  of  thought,  but  it  constructs  new  forms,  or 
various  and  strange  images,  out  of  the  materials  it 
already  has ;  it  combines  these  materials  in  air-built 
castles,  but  it  creates  nothing  but  forms  and  images. 
If  the  imagination  could  create  a  single  new  idea  in 
substance,  a  something  of  which  the  mind  had  pre 
viously  no  element,  then  we  should  continually  live 
in  a  new  creation,  and  no  finite  limit  could  be  placed 
to  the  power  of  the  human  mind.  If  there  be  any 
such  thing  as  new  materials,  or  in  other  words,  abso 
lutely  new  ideas,  furnished  by  imagination,  they  will 
probably  be  found  among  the  poets,  who  have  dealt 
most  largely  in  the  dreams  of  fancy.  Let  us  take 
Pope's  Rape  of  the  Lock  as  an  example  :  the  great 
feature  of  this  beautiful  poem  is  the  creation,  as  it  is 
called,  of  the  race  of  sylphs  and  gnomes,  aerial  spirits, 
who  are  represented  as  the  guardians  of  the  fair. 
The  following  passage  gives  the  idea  of  this  creation, 
and  its  uses : 

"Ye  sylphs  and  sylphids,  to  your  chief  give  ear; 
Fays,  fairies,  genii,  elves,  and  demons,  hear ! 
Ye  know  the  spheres,  and  various  tasks  assigned 
By  laws  eternal  to  the  aerial  kind  : 
Some  in  the  fields  of  purest  ether  play, 
And  bask  and  whiten  in  the  blaze  of  day ; 
Some  guide  the  course  of  wandering  orbs  on  high, 
Or  roll  the  planets  through  the  boundless  sky ; 


LITERATURE  A  MEANS   OF  EDUCATION.  233 

Some,  less  refined,  beneath  the  moon's  pale  light 

Pursue  the  stars  that  shoot  athwart  the  night, 

Or  suck  the  mists  in  grosser  air  below, 

Or  dip  their  pinions  in  the  pointed  bow, 

Or  brew  fierce  tempests  on  the  wintry  main, 

Or  o'er  the  glebe  distil  the  kindly  rain ; 

Others  on  earth  o'er  human  race  preside, 

Watch  all  their  ways,  and  all  their  actions  guide." 

The  poet  has  exhibited  as  beautiful  an  array  of 
sylphs,  fairies,  and  gnomes  as  can  be  found  in  the 
range  of  literature ;  and  yet,  in  the  idea,  what  is  there 
new  ?  The  whole  idea  of  his  fairy  creation  is  re 
solved  into  the  simple  thought  that  there  are  "  attend 
ant  spirits ;"  and  this  idea  is  not  only  very  old,  but  it 
is  expressly  affirmed  in  the  Bible.  Thus  we  see  that 
the  imagination  of  the  poet  has  formed  a  succession 
of  beautiful  combinations  out  of  old  ideas  ;  it  is  a 
beautiful  picture  formed  out  of  the  materials  which 
were  pre-existent.  The  poem  is  an  original  one  :  all 
I  mean  to  say  is,  that  the  imagination  seizes  and 
combines,  but  does  not  really  create  the  materials  of 
its  airy  fabrics. 

This  principle  is  all-important ;  for  if  imagination 
does  not  create,  but  simply  calls  up  and  combines  the 
elements  of  thought,  then  arise  the  important  ques 
tions,  upon  what  principle,  by  what  guide,  under  what 
authority,  does  it  thus  call  up,  and  combine,  and  array 
these  images  and  pictures  ?  Must  we  admit  that  the 
imagination  is  the  dominant  faculty  of  the  soul,  wan 
dering  forth  without  restriction,  and  liable  to  no  recall 
by  superior  authority  ?  If  we  did  this,  we  must  also 


234  AMERICAN  EDUCATION. 

admit  that  the  human  mind  is  incapable  of  moral 
sanity.  Reason  does  not  dwell  in  dreams ;  con 
science  is  not  wounded  by  imaginary  pictures ;  the 
will,  that  mighty  leader  of  energies,  would  lose  con 
trol  of  its  natural  subjects,  and  the  human  being  cease 
to  be  a  responsible  agent ;  the  soul  would  be  a  wreck, 
in  wandering  mazes  lost.  It  is  when  the  imagination 
does,  in  consequence  of  some  invisible  disorder,  gain 
this  ascendency,  that  insanity  commences,  and  we 
have  all  the  phenomena  of  a  mind  in  ruins.  In  walk 
ing  through  lunatic  asylums,  we  find  kings,  princes, 
lords,  and  heroes  enacting  their  several  parts,  and 
happy  in  their  visionary  state ;  the  imagination  has 
become  predominant  over  all  other  faculties.  The 
conclusion,  then,  is,  that  the  imagination  is  controlled 
by  some  other  faculties. 

2.  The  WILL  can  control  the  flight  of  the  imagina 
tion,  and  the  REASON  can  select  the  objects  of  thought 
upon  which  it  shall  dwell.  I  shall  not  stop  to  demon 
strate  this  by  any  other  argument  than  that  included 
in  the  above  illustrations.  To  me,  it  is  self-evident 
that  the  sane  mind  cannot  be  deluded  by  the  imagi 
nation,  or  left  to  follow  its  vagaries,  unless  by  the  as 
sent  of  the  will,  and  the  disuse  of  reason.  It  is  on 
this  principle  that  man  is  accountable  for  the  abuse 
of  the  imagination ;  and  that  to  this  abuse  may  be 
traced  the  largest  share  of  the  wickedness  upon  earth. 
The  Bible  states  the  fatal  consequences  of  a  perverted 
imagination,  and  the  moral  accountability  of  intelli 
gent  beings  for  that  perversion,  in  the  clearest  and 


LITERATURE  A  MEANS  OF  EDUCATION.  235 

most  forcible  terms.  It  was  on  the  eve  of  the  deluge 
when  God  declared  of  the  wickedness  of  man,  that 
"  every  imagination  of  the  thoughts  of  his  heart  was 
only  evil  continually."  The  will  had  voluntarily  al 
lowed  the  thoughts  to  select  topics  of  contemplation, 
and  the  images  called  up  were  evil  continually ;  im 
ages  of  evil  actions,  of  unrestrained  desires,  of  impure 
thoughts,  of  allowed  falsehood,  of  violated  law,  of 
fraud,  of  violence,  of  unhallowed  ambition,  of  earth 
desecrated,  and  heaven  despised. 

This,  says  the  Scripture,  was  the  imagination  of 
the  thoughts ;  and  for  this  imagination  man  was  held 
accountable.  Hence  it  is  assumed,  as  a  matter  of 
fact,  that  these  imaginations  could  be  restrained : 
they  might  have  been  directed  otherwise. 

I  have  arrived,  now,  at  the  direction  and  govern 
ment  of  the  imagination,  as  one  of  the  processes  of 
education.  I  affirm,  that  literature  acts  on  minds 
having  the  elements  of  education,  as  an  excitant 
of  the  imagination,  and  that  it  excites  those  images 
and  thoughts  which  are  genial  to  the  spirit  of  the 
author. 

If  the  imagination,  however  fanciful  its  visions, 
must  use  pre-existent  materials,  then  it  must  find 
them  in  nature  or  literature ;  it  must  find  them  in  the 
state  of  things  as  they  are,  or  in  the  representations 
and  records  of  the  human  mind  found  in  the  pages  of 
literature ;  that  is,  these  must  contain  the  suggesters 
and  excitants  of  thought.  If,  also,  the  selection  of  the 
topics  of  contemplation  and  the  direction  of  the  im- 


236  AMERICAN  EDUCATION. 

agination  can  be  controlled  by  the  will,  then  it  fol 
lows,  as  an  inevitable  conclusion  of  reason,  that  an 
intelligent  and  responsible  being  should  select  the 
subjects  and  works  of  literature  in  reading  so  as  to 
furnish  images  of  the  good,  call  up  visions  of  the 
beautiful,  and  lead  the  mind,  step  by  step,  in  the  as 
cending  scale  of  being.  In  this,  literature  offers  a 
great  variety  of  choice.  There  are  those  who  repre 
sent  the  darker  side  of  humanity,  like  the  moon  in 
dim  eclipse ;  and  there  are  those  who  represent  it  as 
yet  the  subject  of  divine  light,  like  that  same  moon 
when  she  turns  her  "  silver  lining"  up ;  there  are 
those  who  give  us  dark  fragments  of  a  glorious  but 
distorted  intellect,  and  those  whose  minds  seem,  like 
some  peaceful  lake,  reflecting  the  images  of  the  heav 
en  above ;  those  who  delight  in  hateful  and  hideous 
images,  and  those  who  dream  of  all  that  is  lovely  and 
loving. 

When  a  young  mind  takes  the  works  of  different 
authors,  they  thus  become  guides  of  the  imagina 
tion.  The  images  formed  by  the  author  are  called 
up,  and  lead  to  others  of  a  kindred  nature.  Thus, 
literature  really  becomes  a  guide  to  the  imagina 
tion. 

It  is  impossible  to  analyze  precisely  the  effect  pro 
duced  upon  different  minds  by  the  reading  of  differ 
ent  species  of  books.  The  mind  is  too  subtle  an  ele 
ment  to  detect  all  the  influences  upon  it :  its  opera 
tions  are  invisible  ;  but,  as  the  thoughts  are  engaged 
on  pre-existent  materials,  and  as  the  utterances  of  the 


LITERATURE  A  MEANS  OF  EDUCATION.  237 

mind  are  the  outgoing  of  the  thoughts,  we  often 
learn  by  these  utterances  what  are  the  materials  on 
which  the  mind  has  previously  been  engaged.  It  be 
trays  itself.  In  this  manner  it  has  been  demon 
strated,  that  some  minds  have  lost  their  balance  and 
become  insane,  under  the  influence  of  an  ill-regulated 
imagination,  excited  by  reading  visionary  books — 
books  of  romance,  or  books  of  wild  and  delusive 
theories.  Undoubtedly  these  were  weak  minds  ;  but 
the  fact  is  enough  to  prove  the  powerful  influence  of 
literature,  acting  upon  the  imagination,  in  forming 
and  directing  the  mind.  If  it  is  thus  powerful  over 
weak  spirits,  it  must  have  much  influence  even  on 
the  strongest.  The  world  is  now  filled  with  the  worst 
species  of  literature — that  which  does  not  merely  deal 
in  imaginary  creations,  but  fills  that  imaginary  crea 
tion  with  beings,  professing  to  be  portraits  of  living 
nature,  who  indulge  the  worst,  of  passions,  pursue 
the  grossest  pleasures,  mock  the  holiest  of  duties, 
and  represent  men  as  only  a  race  of  intelligent 
beasts  ! 

There  is  a  great  and  vital  distinction  between 
merely  imaginative  literature  and  that  which  is  both 
imaginative  and  passionate.  For  example,  Pope's 
Rape  of  the  Lock  is  an  imaginative  poem,  filled  with 
beautiful  images,  but  excites  no  passions,  calls  up  no 
gross  thoughts,  and  leaves  the  mind,  after  its  flight  of 
fancy,  with  no  evil  impressions ;  on  the  other  side, 
the  recent  French  novels  are  imaginative  also,  but 
the  characters  profess  to  be  real — they  come,  as  men 


238  AMERICAN   EDUCATION. 

and  women,  from  real  life.  In  this  character,  they 
are  represented  as  the  creatures  of  passion  and  pleas 
ure.  One  indulges  the  gross  and  animal  passions. 
One,  with  a  more  decent  exterior,  circulates  through 
the  gay  life  of  fashion,  but  when  the  exterior  of  civ 
ilized  manners  is  taken  off,  is  nothing  but  a  naked 
profligate.  A  third  has  high  intellect,  but  without 
the  slightest  notion  of  religious  responsibility.  A 
fourth  is  filled  with  sentiment,  and  deals  largely  in 
love,  and  honor,  and  poetry,  but  seems  to  have  no 
actual  idea  that  there  is  such  a  thing  as  truth  or  re 
ligion  upon  earth !  These  are,  in  reality,  pictures  of 
the  worst  part  of  human  society  in  a  state  of  civiliza 
tion,  and  for  that  reason  far  worse  than  such  works  of 
the  imagination  as  the  Arabian  Nights' Entertainment. 
The  poetic  fictions  of  the  Arabian  poets  deceive  no 
one.  They  present  no  examples  for  imitation.  They 
lead  us  through  a  world  of  marvels  ;  but  no  one 
imagines  that  he  can  ever  become  one  of  the  wonder 
ful  genii  who  perform  these  marvels.  It  is  a  vision 
of  pure,  unreal  imagination.  But  when  a  writer  of 
genius  makes  a  hero  of  a  robber,  a  lady  of  a  courte 
san,  or  a  moral  exemplar  of  an  atheist,  he  not  only 
treats  with  contempt  the  duties  of  religion  and  the 
faith  of  Christians,  but  he  presents  vicious  examples 
of  society,  and  administers  a  powerful  excitant  to  an 
already  depraved  imagination. 

If  literature,  then,  is  to  be  made  a  salutary  means 
of  education  (and  a  means  of  education  it  is),  it 
must  be,  like  other  branches  of  education,  read,  re- 


LITERATURE  A   MEANS  OF  EDUCATION.  239 

ceived,  and  administered,  under  the  supervisory  care 
of  the  wise  and  good  teacher.  There  is  no  need — 
there  never  was — that  young  men  should  taste  of  all 
the  poison-plants  of  the  field,  in  order  that  they  may 
be  nourished  by  salutary  fruit. 

LITERATURE  AN  EDUCATOR. 

Literature  is  read,  not  studied  ;  hence  it  is  only  in 
rare  exceptions  that  this  reading,  as  to  time,  manner, 
and  quantity,  is  at  all  considered  as  a  serious  thing. 
To  the  lover  of  reading,  it  is  a  pleasure :  to  the 
seeker  for  knowledge,  it  is  pursued  in  that  direction 
where  the  kind  of  knowledge  sought  may  be  found : 
to  the  mere  student  by  necessity,  reading  is  a  labor, 
and  he  reads  just  what  is  necessary,  and  no  more. 
In  almost  all  cases,  literature  is  read  for  pleasure  or 
necessity,  with  scarcely  a  thought  of  its  general  in 
fluence  as  an  educator.  To  nearly  all  persons,  the 
great  mass  of  books  on  the  shelves  of  libraries  and 
bookstores  look  like  an  undigested  chaos,  from  which 
order  can  never  be  brought,  and  to  read  or  even 
look  over  which  would  consume  the  years  of  Methu 
selah  ! 

If  the  attainment  of  all  the  best  thoughts,  or  the 
acquisition  of  all  the  useful  knowledge  contained  in 
those  volumes,  required  that  they  should  all  be  read 
through,  the  task  would  be  interminable,  the  labor 
beyond  human  endurance,  and  life  exhausted  in  the 
vain  attempt  to  perform  such  an  immense  labor  ;  but, 


240  AMERICAN   EDUCATION. 

happily,  this  is  not  the  case,  and  intelligent  minds 
soon  learn  that,  by  reading  one  volume,  they  may  at 
tain  all  that  could  be  got  by  reading  a  thousand  other 
volumes.  The  history  of  human  learning,  philosophy, 
and  even  poetry,  proves  that  the  standard  of  excel 
lence  is  attained  by  slow  degrees,  and  that,  as  a  gen 
eral  principle,  the  books  of  the  last  age  are,  in  refer 
ence  to  that  language  in  which  they  are  written,  the 
best.  It  is  self-evident  that  the  authors  of  each  cen 
tury  must,  in  one  particular,  be  superior  to  those  of 
the  preceding.  They  must,  if  the  book  be  on  any 
branch  of  knowledge,  have  as  much  more  informa 
tion  in  it  as  the  last  century  has  learned.  For  ex 
ample,  if  a  traveller  had,  a  century  since,  told  one 
half  of  what  'is  now  known  about  Egypt  and  its 
monuments,  his  book  would  have  been  a  marvel. 
The  same  is  true  of  all  the  books  which  contain  a 
knowledge  of  the  earth,  of  science,  of  history,  and 
biography  ;  for  it  must  be  recollected,  that  our  knowl 
edge  of  ancient  history  and  ancient  men  is,  like  our 
knowledge  of  science  itself,  greatly  enlarged  by  mod 
ern  discoveries.  Hence,  of  all  the  books  which  have 
been  published  in  a  thousand  years,  not  one  in  a  hun 
dred  is  of  any  value,  however  meritorious  they  may 
have  been  at  the  time  of  publication.  They  have 
been  superseded  by  later  and  superior  information. 

It  is  works  of  sentiment  and  fiction  only,  of  which 
it  cannot  fairly  be  said,  that  the  last  is  probably  the 
best.  These  admit  of  infinite  variety.  Some  new 
combination  in  an  epic  poem,  and  some  new  style  of 


LITERATURE  A  MEANS   OF  EDUCATION.  241 

novel,  may  attract  the  world's  admiration,  and  prove 
a  superior  model  of  literary  art  to  those  which  have 
preceded,  or  those  which  for  centuries  will  follow  it. 
If  the  number  of  models  of  this  sort  were  very  nu 
merous,  it  would  present  great  difficulties  in  the 
choice  of  reading,  and  greatly  increase  the  labors  of 
the  student ;  but,  happily  for  the  student,  if  not  hap 
pily  for  the  world,  the  class  of  model  works,  in  poetic 
or  fictitious  literature,  is  very  small :  the  models  are 
very  rare.  There  is  but  one  Homer,  one  Milton, 
one  Arabian  Nights,  and  one  Walter  Scott.  It 
seems  to  be  the  characteristic  of  the  fine  arts  in  liter 
ature,  as  in  painting  and  sculpture,  to  produce  but 
few  really  great  works. 

We  have  thus  got  rid  of  one  of  the  great  obsta 
cles  to  the  proper  and  systematic  study  of  literature. 
Books  no  longer  present  an  interminable  mass  of  un- 
systematized  volumes,  through  which  no  life,  and  no 
patience,  is  sufficient  to  wade.  There  is  no  longer 
a  chaos.  The  modern  works  of  systematized  knowl 
edge  give  us  a  luminous  and  distinct  view  of  the 
whole  circle  of  science  and  information.  The  works 
of  high  poetic  art  and  invention  are  but  few.  Thus, 
we  have  brought  within  the  reach  of  a  few  years  of 
time  and  an  energetic  industry,  all  the  books  which 
are  necessary  to  inform,  dignify,  and  refine  the  mind 
of  any  intelligent  inquirer. 

Having  in  this  brief  analysis  shown  the  influence 
of  literature  in  directing  and  forming  the  mind,  and 
that  the  immense  number  of  books  does  not  present  a 
16 


242  AMERICAN  EDUCATION. 

real  obstacle  to  the  acquisition  of  whatever  is  valua 
ble  in  them,  I  have  but  two  or  three  other  sugges 
tions  to  make.  Reading  acts  as  an  educator  in  two 
different  modes.  In  the  first  place,  it  gives  positive 
ideas  or  facts,  in  the  way  of  knowledge  ;  in  the  sec 
ond  place,  it  acts  as  a  continual  exciter  and  suggester 
to  thought.  Unquestionably,  the  last  is  the  most  val 
uable  effect.  Positive,  actual  knowledge,  is  invaluable 
to  one  who  knows  how  to  use  it.  But  of  what  value 
would  be  a  storehouse  of  goods,  if  one  could  not  put 
them  to  use?  There  are  men  whose  memory  is 
very  strong,  but  whose  reason  is  little  cultivated. 
These  often  acquire  a  great  variety  of  knowledge, 
and  are  minute  in  their  recollection  of  facts  ; 
yet  this  knowledge  seems  little  available  to  them. 
The  truth  is,  if  the  reason  be  active  and  strong,  the 
knowledge  of  minute  facts  is  of  little  use,  provided 
the  repositories  of  books  and  information  are  acces 
sible.  It  follows,  then,  that  a  course  of  general  read 
ing,  systematically  undertaken,  would  be  far  more 
useful,  if  it  was  accompanied  by  an  analysis  and  re 
view  of  the  subjects  read.  This  is  rarely  done,  and 
it  will  not  be  done,  unless  by  the  advice  and  assist 
ance  of  a  judicious  parent  or  teacher.  The  conclu 
sion  I  draw  is,  that  youth  should  not  be  so  restricted 
in  reading,  that  it  ceases  to  be  a  pleasure  ;  but  that 
the  teacher  should  select  a  systematized  course  01 
the  best  authors,  pursuing  a  regular  order  in  time 
and  topics  ;  and  that  the  young  reader  should  be 
questioned  and  examined  on  what  he  has  read.  The 


LITERATURE  A  MEANS  OF  EDUCATION.  243 

mind  should  be  gradually  accustomed  to  analysis  ; 
to  the  connection  between  cause  and  effect ;  to  the 
philosophical  sequence  of  events  in- the  moral  world  ; 
to  the  artistic  effect  of  style  ;  to  the  use  of  figures ; 
to  the  illustrations  afforded  by  the  natural  world  ; 
and  thus  learn  to  consider  and  reason  upon  all  that 
great  range  of  subjects  which  connect  physics  with 
metaphysics. 

LITERATURE HOW  TO  BE  SELECTED. 

If  a  series  of  books  is  to  be  selected  which  compre 
hend  the  substance  of  what  is  necessary  to  know  in 
literature ;  if  this  series  is  to  be  critically  analyzed, 
and  if  it  is  to  be  salutary  in  its  effects,  then  it  is  im 
portant  to  inquire  upon  what  principles  and  method 
this  course  is  to  be  selected.  It  is  in  the  selection  of 
books  as  it  is  in  what  appears  (to  the  uncultivated 
mind)  as  the  disordered  materials  of  nature — that,  at 
last,  there  is  in  this  apparent  disorder,  method,  se 
quence,  law.  Literature,  I  have  said,  is  the  expres 
sion  of  thought ;  books,  therefore,  written  in  each 
period,  must  express  the  thoughts  of  that  period. 
Literature  must,  therefore,  from  age  to  age,  present 
us  with  serial  pictures  of  the  progress  of  the  human 
mind ;  but  the  last  picture  in  the  gallery  must  present 
a  perspective  of  the  whole  series.  Here,  then,  we 
have  the  first  principle  in  the  selection  of  books. 
The  works  of  history,  biography,  art,  &c.,  whoever 
may  be  the  authors  we  select,  must  be  such  and  so 


244  AMERICAN  EDUCATION. 

many  as  will  present  in  the  whole  series  the  history 
of  man,  his  mind,  his  action,  and  his  progress ;  this 
must  begin  at  the  first  syllable  of  time,  and  proceed 
in  the  order  of  time  to  the  present  day. 

Observing  the  movement  of  the  human  race,  again, 
we  see  that  it  has  sometimes  moved  by  a  leap,  per 
saltern;  and  that  in  a  single  age  more  progress  has 
been  made  than  in  ten  common  ages  :  here  we  have 
another  principle  of  reading.  We  must  stop  at  these 
passages  in  time,  and  take  authors  who  have  made  it 
a  special  study,  and  present  it  in  a  picturesque  style ; 
we  can  afford  to  spend  more  time  on  such  an  era. 
Thus,  we  can  afford  to  study  the  modern  illustrations 
of  Egypt,  because  Hebrew  and  Egyptian  history  are 
intimately  connected,  and  they  mutually  illustrate  the 
first  great  period  of  civilization.  So  we  may  stop  to 
dwell  on  the  Athenian  era,  the  period  of  a  rapid  and 
powerful  intellectual  development ;  on  the  downfall  of 
Rome,  produced  by  internal  decay ;  on  the  Arabian 
literature,  on  the  Reformation,  and  on  the  English  Rev 
olution.  Thus,  by  proper  attention  to  the  choice  of  au 
thors,  we  may  get  the  most  minute  views  of  important 
periods,  drawn  by  the  pencil  of  accomplished  artists. 

A  third  principle  is,  in  the  departments  of  poetry 
and  invention,  to  select  always  the  model  writers,  and 
make  them  a  critical  study.  Take  the  Homer  of  the 
Greeks,  the  Horace  of  the  Latins,  the  Spenser,  Shak- 
speare,  Milton,  and  Pope  of  the  English;  there  are 
but  few  such  models,  and  the  time  required  in  read 
ing  them,  for  the  sake  of  criticism  as  well  as  pleasure, 


LITERATURE  A  MEANS   OF  EDUCATION.  245 

need  not  be  long.  A  hundred  volumes  will  contain 
all  of  poetic  or  fictitious  literature  it  is  worth  while  to 
read  in  a  systematized  course;  even  half  of  this  amount 
will  answer  for  most  persons.  The  three  principles 
of  systematic  reading  I  have  indicated  are  these  : 

1.  That  books  of  history,  biography,  &c.,  should 
be  selected  so  as  to  give  a  serial  view  of  the  entire 
progress  of  human  action  and  the  human  mind. 

2.  That  the  history  and  view  of  important  periods 
should  be  dwelt  upon  more  at  length ;  and  that  for 
this  purpose,  the  more  minute   and  picturesque  ac 
counts  of  particular  writers  may  be  read. 

3.  That  in  works  of  poetry  and  fiction,  the  model 
writers  should  be  preferred. 

I  think  that  if  an  older  and  experienced  mind  were 
to  select  for  a  class  of  youth  such  a  series  of  works, 
were  to  persuade  them  gradually  to  commence  it  with 
a  proper  spirit,  and  were  to  excite  their  minds  by  in 
quiries  and  comments,  that  the  result  would  be  aston 
ishing  ;  that  this  reading  would  soon  become  the 
greatest  pleasure ;  that  a  great  amount  of  information 
would  be  acquired  in  a  short  time,  and  that  the  young 
students  would  soon  become  good  critics  in  the  high 
est  branches  of  literature. 

What  I  have  written  here  is  suggestive  only.  Con 
fident  that  no  one  has  yet  estimated  high  enough  the 
influence  of  literature,  by  reading,  on  the  character 
and  mind  of  the  reader,  I  have  here  recorded  some 
of  my  own  thoughts  on  the  subject,  and  offer  them  as 
suggestions  to  others. 


246  AMERICAN  EDUCATION. 


CHAPTER  XI. 

CONVERSATION AN  INSTRUCTOR. 

"  Though  nature  weigh  our  talents,  and  dispense 
To  ev'ry  man  his  modicum  of  sense, 
And  conversation  in  its  better  part 
May  be  esteemed  a  gift,  and  not  an  art, 
Yet  much  depends,  as  in  the  tiller's  toil, 
On  culture,  and  the  sowing  of  the  soil." 

Cowper. 

"Who  is  a  wise  man  and  endued  with  knowledge  among  you  ?    Let  him  shew 
out  of  a  good  conversation  his  works,  with  meekness  of  wisdom."— St.  James. 

CONVERSATION  is  the  exchange  of  thoughts  ;  there 
fore,  the  announcement  of  a  fact,  or  the  recital  of  a 
narrative,  or  the  communication  of  intelligence,  by 
one  person,  is  not  properly  conversation ;  it  is  an  im 
portant  use  of  language,  but  is  not  an  interchange  of 
ideas.  The  true  idea  of  conversation  is,  the  commu 
nion  of  two,  three,  or  more  persons  in  the  interchange 
of  thoughts  which  arise  at  the  moment,  without  set 
order  or  form  of  words.  Its  great  advantage  over  all 
written  forms  of  expression  or  studied  statements  is, 
or  should  be,  the  truth  and  freedom  of  its  utterance ; 
conversation  occurs  usually  between  friends,  in  pri 
vate  retirement,  without  fear  or  restraint,  and  it 
brings  out,  more  than  any  other  action  of  human  life, 
true  pictures  of  the  inner  mind.  How  much  the 
minds  of  the  greatest  and  best  may  have  been  devel- 


CONVERSATION AN  INSTRUCTOR.        247 

oped  by  conversation  of  which  the  world  has  never 
heard,  we  cannot  know ;  but  one  thing  we  know, 
from  the  observation  of  every  individual,  viz.,  that 
conversation  is  not  merely  a  communion,  but  also  an 
experimental  process,  among  intelligent  minds.  Who 
is  there,  whose  mind  has  any  vitality  of  spirit,  that 
has  not  questioned  the  origin,  laws,  condition,  and 
future  of  his  own  being  ?  Who  has  not  questioned 
the  uses  of  the  stars,  and  the  beings  that  may  inhabit 
them,  or  whether  they  are  inhabited  ?  Who  has  not 
inquired  of  what  lies  beyond  the  horizon  of  being — of 
what  existences  fill  up  the  immensity  of  space  ? 
Who  has  not  looked  with  wonder  upon  the  minor 
beings  of  this  earth  ?  What  limits,  or  does  any  thing 
limit,  the  myriads  of  living  creatures  who  inhabit  the 
leaves  of  flowers  and  the  skin  of  fruits  ?  Where  does 
the  world  of  life  end,  and  where  does  life  itself  begin, 
or  go?  What  are  the  laws  which  bind  the  light 
nings,  which  pour  forth  the  rain,  which  cause  plants 
to  vegetate,  men  to  flourish,  and  this  wide  world  of 
being  to  pursue  its  ceaseless  round  of  motion  ?  Thus 
questions  man  of  himself,  and  of  all  that  is  visible 
and  tangible  in  the  visible  universe.  His  questions 
are  often  far  beyond  the  limits  of  the  human  intellect 
to  comprehend  or  answer,  perhaps  presumptuous  in 
the  eye  of  Heaven  ;  but  in  the  midst  of  these  are 
questions  which  concern  those  laws  of  nature  or  of 
society  which  may  be  comprehended,  and  are  within 
the  proper  range  of  human  inquiry  ;  his  thoughts 
dwell  on  that  verge  of  the  known  and  unknown 


248  AMERICAN   EDUCATION. 

where  something  may  be  discovered  ;  his  imagina 
tion,  excited  by  some  previous  discovery,  hits  upon 
some  new  step,  and,  without  knowing  its  truth,  utters 
his  thoughts  in  some  friendly  conversation.  A  circle 
of  scientific  friends  thus  communicate  their  ideas; 
experiments  are  made,  and  in  some  future  years  the 
world  learns  the  results  of  these  thoughts,  these  con 
versations,  these  experiments,  and  that  reasoning  by 
which  new  discoveries  have  been  brought  out.  I 
said,  therefore,  that  conversation  was  often  experi 
mental;  experimental  by  bringing  out  and  comparing 
the  thoughts  of  different  minds.  The  effect  is  often 
like  that  of  bringing  the  opposite  poles  of  electricity 
together — a  spark  is  elicited,  a  flash  is  seen,  and 
minds  are  startled  and  excited  in  a  way  in  which  no 
one  could  have  been  by  its  own  action ;  knowledge 
is  communicated,  wit  flows,  genius  pours  forth  its 
vivid  fancies,  and  the  spirits  of  the  parties,  thus  mu 
tually  exciting  and  excited,  are  made  happier  and 
brighter  by  this  delightful  communion. 

UTILITY  OF  CONVERSATION. 

Man  is  social.  Human  society  is  not  only  made  up 
of  individuals,  but  each  individual  in  it  feels  that  so 
ciety  is  necessary  to  himself;  it  is  an  original  desire.* 


*  Dr.  Brown,  in  his  Philosophy  of  the  Human  Mind,  thus  speaks  of 
speech  used  for  society,  and  the  desire  of  society :  "  We  use  speech, 
indeed,  in  its  vulgar  offices,  to  express  to  each  other  the  want  of  bodily 
accommodations,  which  can  be  mutually  supplied  by  those  who  know 


CONVERSATION AN  INSTRUCTOR.        249 

Solitary  confinement  is  the  severest  punishment  to 
which  a  human  being  can  be  exposed  on  earth,  and 
it  has  been  known  to  occasion  insanity.  This  con 
tinual  impulse  to  society,  and  this  constant  dread  of 
solitude,  which  make  the  general  law  of  human  beings 
(though  there  may  be  some  rare  and  sad  exceptions), 
demonstrate  that  happiness  lies  largely  in  the  com 
munion  of  souls ;  that  human  kind  have  faculties  spe 
cially  adapted  to  that  communion ;  and  that,  properly 


each  other's  necessities ;  and  as  a  medium  by  which  those  wants  can 
instantly  be  made  known,  it  is,  in  these  vulgar  offices,  an  instrument 
of  the  highest  convenience,  even  though  it  were  incapable  of  being 
adapted  to  any  other  purpose.  But  how  small  a  part  of  that  lan 
guage,  which  is  so  eloquent  an  interpreter  of  every  thought  and  feel 
ing,  is  employed  for  this  humble  end !  If  we  were  to  reflect  on  all 
those  gracious  communications,  and  questions,  and  answers,  and  replies 
that  in  a  little  society  of  friends  form  for  a  whole  day  a  happiness 
which  nothing  else  could  give,  the  few  words  significant  of  mere 
bodily  wants  would  perhaps  be  scarcely  remembered  in  our  retrospect 
of  an  eloquence  that  was  expressive  of  wants  of  a  very  different 
kind — of  that  social  impulse  which,  when  there  are  others  around  who 
can  partake  its  feelings,  makes  it  almost  impossible  for  the  heart, 
whether  sad  or  sprightly,  to  be  sad  or  sprightly  alone,  and  to  which 
no  event  is  little,  the  communication  of  which  can  be  the  expression 
of  regard.  In  that  infinite  variety  of  languages  which  are  spoken  by 
the  nations  dispersed  on  the  surface  of  the  earth,  there  is  one  voice 
which  animates  the  whole ;  a  voice  which,  in  every  country  and  every 
time,  and  in  all  the  changes  of  barbarism  and  civilization,  still  utters 
a  truth,  the  first  to  which  the  heart  has  assented  and  the  last  which  it 
can  ever  love — the  voice  of  our  social  nature,  bringing  its  irresistible 
testimony  to  the  force  of  that  universal  sympathy  which  has  found 
man  everywhere,  and  preserves  him  everywhere,  in  the  community 
of  mankind." 


250  AMERICAN  EDUCATION. 

used,  this  communion  must  be  a  mighty  instrument 
in  that  ascending  progress  of  which  the  conscious 
ness  makes  so  great  an  element  of  happiness.  When 
Adam  was  alone  in  the  world,  God  condescended  to 
commune  with  him ;  and  when  the  Almighty  called 
him  up,  like  a  child,  to  see  what  he  would  name 
things,  the  very  use  of  speech  was  the  creation  of 
knowledge,  an  act  of  progress.  And  thus,  from  the 
first  man  down,  by  angels  and  by  men,  the  voice  in 
its  uttered  speech  has  been  the  expression,  the  herald, 
and  the  evidence  of  a  communion  of  spirits  through 
the  wide  universe  of  being!  From  the  garden  of  Eden 
to  the  plains  of  Mamre,  from  Jacob  to  Moses,  from 
the  prophets  of  Judah  to  the  disciples  of  Jesus,  men, 
and  angels,  and  ascended  spirits  have,  by  the  utterance 
of  the  voice,  showed  forth  the  intercourse  of  all  spirits 
with  one  another  throughout  the  world  of  intelli 
gences!  These  communications  have  not  all  been 

D 

by  conversation ;  but  all  spirits  have  exhibited  their 
capacity  for,  and  their  pleasure  in,  this  mode  of  com 
munication. 

Conversation,  then,  must  be  regarded  as  one,  and 
perhaps  the  very  mightiest,  instrument  in  the  cultiva 
tion  and  expansion  of  the  human  mind.  It  is  almost 
the  only  mode"  by  which  childhood  acquires  knowl 
edge,  and  it  is  the  last  in  which  old  age  delights. 

The  necessity  or  utility  of  conversation,  as  a  means 
of  education,  will  abundantly  appear  from  two  or 
three  very  obvious  reflections.  In  the  first  place,  the 
rapidity  and  ease  of  conversation  enables  an  intelli- 


CONVERSATION AN  INSTRUCTOR.        251 

gent  person  to  communicate  information,  or  suggest 
ideas,  or  direct  attention,  with  a  readiness  and  a  velo 
city  which  it  is  impossible  to  do  by  reading.  Secondly, 
it  may  be  done  more  fully  and  more  accurately,  be 
cause  there  is  an  opportunity  to  ask  questions,  to  ex 
press  different  shades  of  thought,  and  to  illustrate  in 
different  ways.  Thirdly,  conversation  suggests  rapidly 
numerous  ideas,  which  can  only  be  expressed  in  a 
very  limited  manner  by  wrritten  instruction.  Fourthly, 
such  instruction  may  thus  draw  out  a  sympathy  of 
minds,  by  which  the  pupil  is  enlivened,  is  led  forward 
without  labor,  and  ascends,  enlarges  the  circle  of 
ideas,  loves  the  pursuit  of  knowledge,  and  inquires 
into  the  reason  of  things,  without  ever  suspecting  that 
a  task  has  been  put  upon  him.  Beyond  all  doubt, 
this  is  the  natural  mode  of  instruction — the  mode 
which  prevailed  in  the  primitive  ages.  Books  have 
been  resorted  to  only  as  helps  and  aids  to  the  teacher. 
In  this  regard,  they  are  absolutely  essential ;  because 
the  great  mass  of  children  and  youth,  who  in  darker 
ages  were  wholly  neglected,  have  now  to  be  taught. 
The  consequence  is,  that  teachers  must  economize 
their  time  ;  must  instruct  by  classes,  at  wholesale  ; 
and  hence,  pupils  must  employ  much  of  their  time  on 
their  text-books.  This  seems,  at  present,  to  be  a 
necessary  part  of  our  system  ;  but  while  we  admit 
this,  we  must  not  forget  to  use  and  properly  apply 
that  great  natural  method  of  teaching  and  of  harmo 
nizing  society  which  God  made  for  the  benefit  and 
blessing  of  mankind — oral  teaching.  The  sympathy 


252  AMERICAN  EDUCATION. 

of  spirits  will  ever  be,  while  mother  and  child,  phi 
losopher  or  friend,  remain  on  earth,  the  most  power 
ful  instrument  of  communication  with  the  human 
mind. 


CONVERSATION HOW  DIRECTED. 

I  have  described  conversation  as  free  and  sponta 
neous.  So  it  is  ;  and  in  this  is  one  of  its  greatest 
charms.  But  it  must  not,  therefore,  be  assumed  that 
all  possible  conversation  is  right,  and  tends  to  instruc 
tion  and  improvement.  On  the  contrary,  the  Scrip 
tures  inform  us,  that  the  very  thoughts  themselves 
must  be  restrained  ;  that  the  imagination  must  be 
chastened  and  corrected ;  and  that  thought,  and  the 
communion  of  thought,  must  be  regulated  in  confor 
mity  to  the  pure  and  holy  law  of  God.  This  restric 
tion,  however,  still  allows  the  mind  an  almost  illimit 
able  range  of  subjects,  a  variety  and  expansion  of 
contemplation,  which  is  more  than  sufficient  to  fill 
the  most  august  of  human  souls,  through  the  ages  of 
eternity. 

In  the  choice  of  topics,  the  persons  conversing 
have  the  same  rule  that  I  have  laid  down  in  relation 
to  reading.  It  is  the  WILL  which  directs  the  mind  ; 
it  is  the  Reason  which  guides  its  choice.  Hence  the 
individual  always  has  a  self-governing  power  to  di 
rect  both  its  reading  and  its  conversation.  When 
the  Apostle  describes,  in  his  energetic  language,  the 
powerful  attributes  of  the  tongue,  he  shows  by  his 


CONVERSATION AN  INSTRUCTOR.  253 

conclusion  that,  notwithstanding  the  intractableness 
of  this  fiery  instrument,  yet  at  last,  we  are  account 
able  for  its  use.  Let  the  wise  (said  he)  show  out  of 
a  good  conversation  his  works,  with  meekness  of 
wisdom. 

That  all  conversation,  even  among  the  good  and 
wise,  should  be  always  just,  right,  and  instructive,  is 
'not  to  be  expected  of  the  imperfect  condition  of  hu 
man  society.  Nor  is  it  to  be  supposed  that  grave 
and  important  subjects  must  be  always  the  theme  of 
conversation,  when  the  very  intention  and  beauty  of 
it  is  to  give  a  light  and  airy  play  to  the  fancy  ;  to  en 
liven  with  the  sallies  of  wit,  and  indulge  the  dreams, 
which  flit  like  spirits  through  the  intellectual  vision. 
No ;  human  nature  must  be  allowed  its  natural  rec 
reations  in  the  conversational  play  of  minds.  The 
news  of  the  day  must  be  told ;  the  death  of  friends 
must  be  lamented ;  the  last  marriage  must  be  talked 
over  ;  the  last  joke  must  be  circulated ;  and  gossips 
must  secretly  tell  all  the  little  events  of  the  neigh 
borhood  ! 

But,  having  allowed  full  room  for  all  these  natural 
topics,  there  comes  often  a  time  when  intelligent 
minds  meet  together  for  the  higher  play  of  intellect 
ual  interchange  of  ideas,  or  when  youth  are  in  com 
pany  with  their  superiors,  or  when  accomplished 
women  grace  the  circle,  and  minds  begin  to  com 
mune  and  circulate  in  higher  ranges  of  thought 
— here  such  topics  should  be  conversed  upon  as  in 
volve  the  most  important  social  problems  :  the  nature 


254  AMERICAN  EDUCATION. 

and  destiny  of  spirit ;  the  last  discoveries  in  science ; 
the  probable  course  of  governments  ;  the  tendencies 
of  the  times;  the  changes  which  manners  and  customs 
undergo.  No  place  is  so  proper  for  the  discussion  of 
social  problems  as  the  social  circle ;  for  there  the  so 
lutions  of  these  problems  are  to  produce  effect,  and 
there  are  the  individuals  upon  whom  these  changes  are 
to  operate.  In  the  conversational  intercourse  between 
old  and  young,  few  persons  seem  to  be  aware  of  the 
vast  amount  of  influence  and  information  thus  com 
municated.  Young  persons  of  intelligence  listen 
with  instinctive  veneration  to  the  words  of  the  old, 
and  every  word  so  told  them  is  recorded  on  the 
leaves  of  an  imperishable  memory.  Happy  is  the 
Gamaliel  who  can  find  some  intelligent  youth  to  in 
struct,  and  happy  the  youth  who  can  find  a  Gama 
liel  whom  wisdom  has  informed,  while  age  has  made 
him  venerable ! 

In  the  direction  of  conversation,  then,  when  minds 
begin  to  discuss  more  important  things  than  the  cas 
ual  gossip  of  the  day,  let  the  thoughts  be  turned  on 
all  those  problems  of  society,  of  nature,  and  of  hu 
man  improvement,  about  which  some  discoveries  may 
yet  be  made,  and  on  which  the  intellect  becomes  in 
terested,  and  the  suggestions  of  several  persons  mu 
tually  excited  may  elicit  some  new  experiments,  or 
new  results.  It  is  thus  that  conversation  will  aid  in 
quiry  and  the  activity  of  the  mind  be  kept  up,  and  its 
energies  strengthened. 


CONVERSATION AN  INSTRUCTOR.  255 


CONVERSATION HOW  CARRIED  ON. 

As  conversation  is  free,  confidential,  and  in  a  great 
degree  spontaneous,  it  seems  absurd  to  suggest  any 
rules  for  its  conduct.  So  it  is  ;  but  as  Cowper  has 
thought  it  not  beneath  him  to  write  a  poem  on  this 
subject,  I  may  venture  barely  to  state  two  or  three 
hints.  Most  of  what  may  be  said  on  the  subject  of 
conducting  conversation  must  be  negative  ;  for  most 
of  the  errors  of  manner  in  conversing  arise  from  do 
ing  what  ought  not  to  be  done.  I  will  state  what  I 
think  conversation  is,  and  what  I  think  it  is  not. 

1.  The  proper  manner  of  conversation  has  been 
defined  by  some  one  to  be  "  a  ball,  which  is  thrown 
from  player  to  player  without  being  allowed  to 
drop,  and  thus  keeps  each  one  in  play."  This 
figure  certainly  represents  what  the  manner  ought 
to  be. 

In  a  circle  of  friends  met  for  mutual  converse,  no 
one  is  so  humble  that  he  should  be  neglected ;  no 
one  so  high  that  he  is  entitled  to  engross  all  attention. 
When  people  meet  together,  as  superior  and  inferior, 
to  be  measured  by  station,  strength,  or  talents,  all 
conversation,  as  such,  ceases.  That  beautiful  play  of 
fancy,  wit,  and  sentiment,  which  often  beams  from 
a  young  girl  with  more  brightness  than  from  the 
most  learned  sage,  is  lost.  The  timid  girl  shrinks 
within  herself;  the  youth  stands  abashed  ;  the  diffi 
dent  part  of  the  company  refuse  to  speak ;  and  thus 
the  party  is  chilled  with  an  icy  reserve.  This  is  a 


256  AMERICAN  EDUCATION. 

great  mistake  on  the  part  of  those  whose  exclusive- 
ness  has  brought  it  on.  Conversation,  to  be  conver 
sation,  must  be  shared  in  by  all ;  and  it  should  be  a 
duty  as  well  as  a  courtesy,  on  the  part  of  those  who 
have  the  highest  place,  and  talk  with  the  greatest 
ease,  to  bring  out  the  minds  of  all  the  others — to  re 
flect  the  lambent  rays  of  those  who  shine  the  least, 
and  allow  an  unclouded  brilliancy  to  those  small  but 
bright  stars  which  are  visible  only  when  greater  ones 
retire. 

In  fine,  conversation  must  be  this  continual  play  • 
this  perpetual  motion  of  the  ball  from  hand  to  hand, 
in  order  to  make  it  genial  to  all  the  company,  to 
bring  out  all  minds,  and  to  make  it  that  free,  glad 
some  communion  of  spirits,  which  makes  society 
here  seem  sometimes  like  a  picture  of  the  ideal 
heaven. 

2.  Dogmatism  is  not  conversation.      When  any 
one    in    company,    whether   having  just   or   unjust 
claims  to  superiority,  assumes  an  air  of  consequence, 
and  deals  out  a  succession  of  dogmatic  assertions,  it 
not  only  offends  the  sensibilities  of  the  other  mem 
bers  of  the  circle,  but  absolutely  puts  an  end  to  any 
free    intercourse   of    sentiment.      It    is    an    oracle, 
and  not  a  gentleman,  who  speaks.      There  may  be 
much  information  conveyed,  and  that,  too,  of  val 
ue  ;    but  it  is  seldom  received  with  any  feeling  but 
that  of  disgust  by  the  hearers. 

3.  Debate  is  not  conversation  ;    it  is  simply  an  ar 
gument  to  maintain  opinion.    It  is  not  an  interchange 


CONVERSATION AN  INSTRUCTOR.  257 

of  ideas :   it  is  not  an  inquiry :    it  is  not  sentiment ; 
it  is  only  an  argument.     Covvper  says — 

"  Ye  powers  who  rule  the  tongue,  if  such  there  are, 
And  make  colloquial  happiness  your  care, 
Preserve  me  from  the  thing  I  dread  and  hate, 
A  duel  in  the  form  of  a  debate." 

4.  An  harangue  is  not  conversation.     If  any  man 
feels  himself  impelled  to  harangue  others,  he  should 
choose  a  larger  audience  than  a  private  circle.      He 
should  get  a  lecture-room,  and  invite  his  friends  there 
on  a  stated  occasion,  when  doubtless  both  they  and 
he  may  profit  by  the  exercise.      But  conversation  is 
the  mutual  intercourse  of  several  minds,  and  admits 
of  no  monopoly  by  any  one  of  the  party. 

5.  A  mere  narrative  is  not  conversation,  because 
it  is  all    on  one  side ;    yet  narrative    and    anecdote 
may  be  employed  to  illustrate  the  subject  of  conver 
sation  : 

"  A  story,  in  which  native  humor  reigns, 
Is  often  useful,  always  entertains : 
A  graver  fact  enlisted  on  your  side, 
May  furnish  illustration  well  applied  ; 
But  sedentary  weavers  of  long  tales 
Give  me  the  fidgets,  and  my  patience  fails." 

The  general  idea  of  conversation,  as  I  have  de 
scribed  it  here,  is  that  of  a  mutual  interchange  of 
ideas,  sentiment,  wit,  and  information  ;  kept  up,  like 
a  ball,  by  constant  play,  and  never  monopolized  by 
one  person.  This  shows  what  the  leading  members  of 
a  party  or  circle  should  endeavor  to  do,  in  order  to  ac 
complish  this.  They  should  direct  attention  to  topics 

17 


258  AMERICAN  EDUCATION. 

of  common  interest;  they  should  draw  out  diffident  and 
backward  minds,  and  throw  out  ideas  which  may  ex 
cite  and  enliven.  Should  any  of  the  party  still  re 
tire  within  themselves,  and  refuse  to  mingle  in  the 
general  current,  still  the  others  should  keep  up  the 
ball,  and  never  let  it  drop  from  neglect. 


THE  COMMUNION   OF  SPIRITS  AN  EDUCATOR. 

Why  is  it  that  great  men  have  had  either  great 
mothers  or  great  teachers  ?  Or,  in  other  words,  as 
mothers  are  teachers,  why  is  it  that  mediocre  teach 
ing  does  not  produce  great  men  ?  On  the  theory, 
that  it  is  genius  which  makes  great  statesmen,  great 
generals,  great  orators,  or  great  workmen,  then  it  is 
of  no  great  consequence  what  sort  of  teaching  they 
have,  since  it  is  a  sort  of  supernatural  genius  which 
accomplishes  these  great  results.  But  it  is  not  so. 
This  remarkable  genius  is  almost  invariably  found 
accompanied  with  either 'great  industry  or  superior 
instruction. 

It  is  a  fact,  that  most  of  those  who  have  been  re 
markable  for  superior  talents,  have  had  either  supe 
rior  mothers  or  superior  teachers.  The  source  of 
this  great  influence  of  a  great  mind  in  rearing  and 
nourishing  other  great  minds,  we  readily  discover  by 
looking  a  little  into  the  mode  by  which  mind  acts 
upon  mind.  If  we  were  to  go  to  the  school  of  a  man, 
many  of  whose  pupils  have  turned  out  brilliant  and 
successful  men,  we  should  probably  find  that  he  used 


CONVERSATION AN  INSTRUCTOR.  259 

the  same  text-books,  and  nearly  the  same  mode  of 
discipline  which  are  used  in  other  schools  :  we  should 
notice  nothing  very  remarkable  in  the  general  for 
mula  of  that  school ;  but  if  we  were  to  hear  him 
speak,  we  should  soon  discover  that  he  had  an  active, 
vivacious,  vigorous  mind  ;  that  he  was  continually 
alert  and  enterprising  ;  that  with  him  life  was  in 
every  thing ;  the  world  was  revealed  in  beauty,  and 
all  creation  bloomed  and  beamed  in  living  light.  In 
one  word,  he  is  a  live  man.  He  sees  vividly,  feels 
strongly,  and  judges  sensibly.  To  sum  the  whole  up, 
he  is  a  man  of  quick  perceptions  and  sound  judgment, 
well  informed. 

Now  the  theory  of  his  influence  over  his  pupils, 
and  the  impulse  he  gives  to  their  minds,  is  very  sim 
ple.  He  hears  them  recite  their  books  as  others  do ; 
but  when  he  talks,  then  he  vivifies  his  young  hearers 
with  pictures  of  the  living  world  ;  communicates  his 
own  ardent  spirits  ;  sends  his  own  energy  through 
their  thoughts  ;  directs  their  ambitious  steps  ;  and 
paints  on  the  horizon  of  futurity  glorious  castles  of 
hope,  with  lofty  spires  and  golden  domes ! 

This  is  the  influence  of  mind  upon  mind  :  it  is  the 
communion  of  spirits  by  conversation :  it  is  an  in 
spiration  which  those  whom  God  has  gifted  with 
great  and  noble  talents,  are  able  to  diffuse  on  all 
around.  Happy  are  they  who  are  thus  gifted,  and 
happy  those  who,  fallen  within  such  blessed  influ 
ences,  know  how  to  use  and  enjoy  such  inspiration 
with  wisdom  and  with  meekness. 


260  AMERICAN  EDUCATION. 


CHAPTER    XII. 

THE  CONSTITUTION THE  LAW-BOOK  OF -THE  NATION. 

"The  unity  of  government  which  constitutes  you  one  people,  is  also  now  dear  to 
you.  It  is  justly  so  ;  for  it  is  a  main  pillar  in  the  edifice  of  your  real  independence ; 
the  support  of  your  tranquillity  at  home ;  your  peace  abroad ;  of  your  safety,  of 
your  prosperity ;  of  that  very  liberty  which  you  so  highly  prize." —  Washington. 

WHAT  is  the  Constitution  ?  The  Constitution  is 
the  constituted  form  of  government.  It  embodies  in  it 
all  the  powers  and  duties  with  which  the  nation  has 
thought  proper  to  invest  the  administrators  of  gov 
ernment.  It  is  the  fundamental  law  ;  the  regulation 
which  determines  the  manner  in  which  the  authority 
vested  in  government  shall  be  executed.* 

There  are  certain  great  principles  of  national  or 
ganization  which  are  as  necessary  to  national  life  in 
a  state  of  civilization,  as  the  structure  of  the  body  is 
to  its  motions  and  functions.  The  administration  of 
the  civil  laws  is  absolutely  essential  to  the  order, 
peace,  security,  and  harmony  of  society.  Civil  law, 
however,  must  have  its  limitations ;  it  will  not  an 
swer  to  intrust  the  administrators  of  law  with  dis 
cretionary  powers ;  for  such  a  government  must  soon 
become  a  despotism,  in  consequence  of  the  abuses 
which  the  ambition  and  selfishness  of  public  officers 

*  Mansfield's  Political  Grammar— Definition  4. 


LAW-BOOK   OF  THE  NATION.  261 

would  create.  The  imperfection  of  human  nature 
shows  itself  in  nothing  more  palpably  than  in  matters 
of  government.  Hence  it  is  necessary  to  define  and 
restrict  all  grants  of  power.  There  must,  therefore, 
be  a  fundamental  frame-work  of  what  powers  the 
people  grant ;  what  functions  are  to  be  performed ; 
what  duties  are  required  ;  and  what  penalties  and  tri 
bunals  are  provided  to  maintain  the  law.  This 
frame-work  is  organic  ;  but  it  is  only  organic.  As 
the  circumstances  and  wants  of  the  people  change 
continually,  there  must  be  special  laws  adapted  to 
their  condition,  which  may  be  enacted  and  repealed 
from  time  to  time.  There  must,  therefore,  be  legisla 
tive  bodies  under  the  Constitution,  and  subsidiary  to 
it :  there  is,  therefore,  in  the  Republic,  the  major  and 
the  minor  laws,  the  organic  and  the  functional. 

The  organic  law  is  the  Constitution.  This  con 
tains  all  the  essential  and  elementary  principles  of 
republican  government  ;  it  is,  therefore,  a  fit  and 
most  useful  part  of  the  studies  in  an  American  edu 
cation.*  Our  CONSTITUTION  may  be  termed  the  last 
and  best  result  of  all  the  experiments  upon  govern- 


*  In  the  year  1834,  I  prepared  the  "Political  Grammar"  for 
the  use  of  young  men,  and  to  encourage  the  study  of  our  organic 
law  in  the  colleges  and  high-schools  of  the  country.  At  that  time 
it  was  an  experiment.  Since  that  period,  this  subject  has  been  stead 
ily  advancing  in  the  educational  institutions  of  the  country.  The 
"  Political  Grammar,"  which  is  an  outline  of  the  theory  and  practice 
of  our  government,  has  been  widely  circulated,  and  is  now  in  market. 
It  is  published  by  Truman  and  Spojfard,  Cincinnati. 


262  AMERICAN    EDUCATION. 

ment  since  the  creation  of  man.  It  would  be  ridic 
ulous  to  look  into  antiquity  for  forms  of  government ; 
it  would  be  equally  ridiculous  to  look  to  Europe  for 
examples  of  government,  when  all  its  institutions  are 
tottering  and  tumbling.  What  one  country  of  Eu 
rope  is  there  of  which  it  can  be  affirmed  with  the 
least  probability,  that  its  political  institutions  can  last 
a  single  century  ?  It  is  in  the  elementary  principles 
of  our  own  country  that  intelligent  men  in  every  na 
tion  look  for  a  final  solution  of  the  difficulties  in  gov 
ernment. 


THE  NATURE  OF  THE  CONSTITUTION. 

The  Constitution  is  the  organic  law,  and  therefore 
defines  and  limits  the  functions  of  government. 
Now  these  functions,  in  their  nature  and  action, 
constitute  a  science,  just  as  much  as  the  anatomy 
and  physiology  of  the  human  body,  or  the  geometry 
of  matter.  Government  is,  in  its  very  origin  and  na 
ture,  a  system  of  principles,  and  there  is  no  govern 
ment,  however  despotic  or  however  much  abused, 
which  does  not  in  some  measure  exhibit  these  prin 
ciples.  Government  may  be  a  tyranny  ;  but  it  can 
not  be  a  chaos :  the  moment  it  becomes  a  chaos,  it 
ceases  to  exist.  Society  must  be  recognized,  and 
must  re-institute  its  political  institutions. 

The  functions  of  government  commence  in  the 
family  ;  for  that  is  the  primitive  society.  There  orig 
inates  every  institution  which  is  valuable  ;  there  we 


LAW-BOOK  OF  THE  NATION.  263 

shall  find  the  germs  of  government.  For  example, 
take  what  we  may  suppose  to  be  the  condition  and 
manner  of  the  family  of  Abraham :  he  was  a  patri 
arch,  with  a  large  number  of  persons  under  his  con 
trol.  He  commands,  that  in  their  journey  through 
the  land  (not  unlike  the  recent  emigrant  movements 
through  the  centre  of  this  continent),  certain  things 
shall  be  prepared,  arranged,  and  done  by  his  family 
and  servants.  This  is  the  law  :  Abraham  in  this  is  a 
lawmaker.  The  law  is  made  and  declared.  This  is 
the  first  and  highest  function  of  government.  But 
laws  are  dead  and  of  no  effect  unless  they  are  exe 
cuted,  administered  ;  and  this  requires  officers,  func 
tionaries.  Thus  Abraham  made  Eliezer  of  Damas 
cus  his  steward,  and  no  doubt  had  other  subordinate 
officers.  These  executed  the  laws  under  his  direc 
tions.  But  there  comes  a  time  when  some  child  or 
servant  disobeys  the  law ;  then  there  must  be  some 
mode  of  determining  whether  the  law  is  violated,  and 
if  violated,  how  the  violation  shall  be  punished,  and 
the  law  vindicated.  This  is  the  office  of  a  judge. 
We  thus  have  the  judicial  function.  In  Abraham's 
family  this  function  was  exercised  by  himself,  as  in 
reality  were  all  the  powers  of  government.  But  we 
see  that  these  three  great  powers  of  government  are 
founded  in  nature.  They  are  part  of  the  original 
elements  of  human  society,  as  much  as  the  forms  of 
geometry  are  essential  attributes  of  matter. 

It  is  obvious,  therefore,  that  there  can  be  no  knowl 
edge  of  the  science  of  government,  and  consequently 


264  AMERICAN  EDUCATION 

no  real  freedom,  while  there  is  no  just  understanding 
of  the  nature,  separation,  and  proper  functions  of  the 
three  great  elements  of  government.  The  greatest 
discovery  made  in  the  theory  of  government  is  that 
of  the  natural  and  necessary  separation  of  these  great 
functions.  In  the  head  of  a  family  we  see  them 
united  ;  but  there  is  little  danger  of  abuse  there,  be 
cause  all  tyranny  is  restrained  by  natural  affections. 
In  a  despotism  we  see  them  again  united,  and  what 
is  the  consequence  ?  Tyranny,  oppression,  and  dark 
ness.  In  a  perfect  republic  only,  are  they  entirely 
separated.  There  the  legislator,  the  executive,  and 
the  judge,  are  respectively  confined  within  their  re 
spective  jurisdictions  by  the  Constitution.  The  na 
ture  of  a  constitution  of  government,  then,  is  to  rec 
ognize,  define,  limit,  and  prescribe  the  duties  of  the 
three  natural  and  fundamental  properties  of  govern 
ment.  This  is  its  nature  and  its  office,  as  an  or 
ganic  law.  Let  us  now  see  in  what  relation  the  peo 
ple  stand  to  this  Constitution. 


SOVEREIGNTY   OF  THE  PEOPLE. 

It  is  the  sovereignty  of  the  people  which  enacts  a 
constitution.  Look  again  at  the  family.  Abraham 
was  before  his  family,  its  founder  and  maker.  To 
him,  as  prior  to  all  family  regulations,  there  was  no 
binding  law  of  human  regulation  ;  that  is,  he  was  the 
original  sovereign,  ruling  by  virtue  of  a  prior  and  nat 
ural  sovereignty.  So  there  was  a  time  when  the 


LAW-BOOK  OF  THE  NATION.  265 

people  had  no  constitution  enacted  by  themselves. 
In  that  condition,  having  granted  to  no  one  the  nat 
ural  powers  of  government  existing  in  the  family, 
each  member  of  society,  and  consequently  society 
as  a  whole,  retains  all  the  powers  of  a  sovereign,  in 
relation  to  all  human  regulations.  This  is  what  is 
called  the  sovereignty  of  the  people.  Perhaps  there 
never  was  a  time  when  any  considerable  body  of 
people  were  entirely  without  government,  and  there 
fore  no  perfect  example  of  a  dormant  sovereignty  of 
the  people.  The  sovereignty  of  the  people,  however, 
is  prior  to  the  constitution,  and  the  constitution  ex 
ists  by  virtue  of  that  sovereignty.*  This  fact 
brings  us  to  consider  the  citizen  as  exercising  this 
power. 


*  M.  de  Tocqueville  remarks  (chapter  4 — Democracy  in  America), 
that  "  In  some  countries  a  power  exists  which,  though  it  is  in  a  de 
gree  foreign  to  the  social  body,  directs  it,  and  forces  it  to  pursue  a 
certain  track.  In  others,  the  ruling  force  is  divided,  being  partly 
within  and  partly  without  the  ranks  of  the  people.  But  nothing  of 
the  kind  is  to  be  seen  in  the  United  States ;  there  society  governs 
itself  for  itself.  All  power  centres  in  its  bosom ;  and  scarcely  an  in 
dividual  is  to  be  met  with  who  would  venture  to  conceive,  or  still 
less  to  express,  the  idea  of  seeking  it  elsewhere.  The  nation  partici 
pates  in  the  making  of  its  laws  by  the  choice  of  its  legislators,  and 
in  the  execution  of  them,  by  the  choice  of  the  agents  of  the  execu 
tive  government ;  it  may  also  be  said  to  govern  itself,  so  feeble  and 
so  restricted  is  the  share  left  to  the  administration,  so  little  do  the 
authorities  forget  their  popular  origin,  and  the  power  from  which 
they  emanate." 


266  AMERICAN   EDUCATION. 


THE  CITIZEN  A  SOVEREIGN. 

The  citizen  of  the  United  States  exercises  the  du 
ties  of  a  sovereign  in  all  those  functions  which  it  is 
usual  in  modern  days  for  a  sovereign  to  exercise. 
He  chooses  all  the  ministers  of  power :  he  chooses 
the  President,  the  governors,  the  members  of  Con 
gress,  the  members  of  the  Legislatures,  and  soon  will 
probably  choose  all  the  State  judges.  He  chooses, 
therefore,  the  legislature,  the  executive,  and  the  judi 
ciary.  Indirectly,  he  carries  on  the  government  him 
self.  It  is  true,  that  in  a  certain  election  he  may  be 
only  one  in  ten  thousand  :  alone  he  cannot  control  this 
mass,  and  every  election  may  result  precisely  oppo 
site  to  his  wishes  and  his  vote.  Does  this  fact  absolve 
him  from  his  political  and  moral  responsibility  ? 
There  is  apt  to  come  over  many  minds,  after  polit 
ical  defeats,  a  feeling  of  discouragement ;  a  feeling 
that,  do  what  they  may,  there  is  an  irrevocable  and 
uncontrollable  majority  which  does  and  will  render 
their  votes  useless.  They  then  say  that  they  can  do 
no  good,  and  that  they  are  not  responsible  for  results, 
and  will  not  vote.  This  seems  at  first  plausible  ;  but 
a  very  simple  illustration  will  show  its  fallacy,  and 
that  it  leads  to  ruinous  results.  Suppose  that  in  cer 
tain  party  divisions  there  are  3000  voters  one  side 
and  7000  on  the  other,  thus  giving  a  majority  of 
more  than  two  to  one.  In  the  violence  of  party 
spirit,  this  ratio  remains  at  several  elections  with 
very  little  change.  The  minority  are  hopeless  : 


LAW-BOOK  OF  THE  NATION.  267 

they  then  cease  to  make  opposition.  The  majority, 
because  there  is  no  opposition,  fall  off  in  their  votes, 
success  being  certain.  In  two  or  three  years,  not 
half  the  majority  vote.  The  minority  do  not  vote  ; 
and  it  soon  appears  that  out  of  10,000  voters  not 
over  4000  have  voted!  What  happens  from  this? 
There  being  no  attention  paid  to  their  political  duties 
by  the  majority,  the  political  power  has  fallen  into 
the  hands  of  the  minority  !  Not  only  this  ;  but  the 
direction  of  this  minority  is  in  the  hands  of  small 
caucuses  and  cliques.  Thus  the  power  of  10,000 
voters  has  fallen  into  the  hands  of  perhaps  only  a 
hundred  !  A  minority  governs  ;  and  the  whole 
theory  and  spirit  of  republican  government  is  per 
verted!  But  the  minority  may  say,  "This  is  no 
fault  of  ours ;  we  should  have  been  overwhelmed  if 
we  had  voted."  True  ;  but  is  there  no  difference  in 
the  results,  in  fact  and  in  morals?  If  the  3000  of 
the  minority  had  voted,  the  whole  10,000  would  have 
voted.  The  majority  would  have  been  compelled  to 
exercise  their  discretion,  and  stand  upon  their  respon 
sibility.  In  one  word,  the  minority  would  have  held 
the  majority  to  their  duties,  and  it  would  be  the  ma 
jority  and  not  a  minority  which  governs.  Minori 
ties  have  power,  and  it  is  false  reasoning — utterly 
f  ise — by  which  any  man  excuses  himself  from  polit 
ical  duties,  or  neglects  the  public  responsibilities 
which  in  the  course  of  human  events  have  been  cast 
upon  him. 

From  these  facts  we  come  to  the  particular  con- 


268  AMERICAN   EDUCATION. 

elusion  which  concerns  us  in  an  American  education. 
If,  in  the  United  States,  every  man  is  in  one  sense  a 
sovereign,  and  has  political  duties  inevitably  cast 
upon  him ;  if  all  these  political  duties,  and  the  gen 
eral  scheme  of  government,  are  marked  out  and  lim 
ited  by  a  constitution,  then  it  follows  that  this  sov 
ereign  citizen  ought  to  read,  study,  and  understand 
that  constitution. 

Government  is  in  its  very  nature  a  complex  ma 
chine  ;  and  the  republican  form  of  government  the 
most  complex  of  any  in  its  practical  operation.  It  is 
by  the  separation  of  the  functions  of  government, 
the  divisions  of  departments,  the  checks  and  bal 
ances  of  power,  that  freedom  is  secured.  Elections 
are  very  simple ;  but  the  rights,  duties,  and  opera 
tions  of  the  citizen,  the  public  officer,  the  legislator, 
the  judge,  the  army,  the  navy,  the  states,  the  muni 
cipalities,  and  the  townships,  are  not  simple,  by  any 
means.  On  the  contrary,  all  these  various  functions 
of  American  government  make  up  a  very  complex 
system  ;  and  there  are  few  who  have  studied  it  in  all 
its  branches. 

The  sovereign  citizen  should,  therefore,  at  least 
study  and  understand  the  constitution  of  his  country. 

A  CITIZEN  A  SUBJECT. 

The  citizen  is  a  sovereign  ;  but  there  is  an  anom 
aly  in  his  sovereignty  which  attends  no  other  sov 
ereign  on  earth.  He  is  also  a  subject.  To  what  is 


LAW-BOOK  OF  THE  NATION.  269 

he  subject?  The  law.  His  sovereignty  is  void, 
when  it  attempts  to  intervene  between  the  law  and 
himself.  All  other  sovereigns  can  arrest  the  law,  or 
pardon  the  offender  ;  but  the  citizen  cannot.  When 
he  has  put  his  vote  in  the  ballot-box,  his  sovereignty 
is  exhausted  :  he  has  chosen  his  ministers  by  his  vote  ; 
but  he  has  voluntarily  in  the  Constitution  deprived 
himself  of  any  power  to  interfere  with  the  adminis 
tration  and  operation  of  the  laws.  From  that  mo 
ment  all  goes  on  without  him,  and  he  becomes  one 
only  in  a  mass  of  human  beings,  among  whom  the 
law  knows  no  distinctions,  and  over  whom  it  rules 
with  ceaseless  sway. 

There  follows  from  this  double  relation  a  very  cu 
rious  and  important  consequence.  It  is,  that  obe 
dience  to  the  law  as  a  subject,  is  the  surest  foundation 
of  his  power  as  a  sovereign.  If  the  law  be  supreme, 
then  the  political  sovereignty  which  enacts  the  law 
is  supreme  ;  but  if  the  people  in  their  individual  ca 
pacities  can  overthrow  the  law,  then  they  overturn 
their  own  political  power.  In  one  word,  law  is  the 
medium,  the  instrument  by  which  the  popular  power 
in  a  republic  is  administered.  If  the  people,  who 
really  have  made  the  law,  overturn  it,  they  create  a 
chaos.  There  is  no  longer  government ;  there  is  no 
longer  law ;  there  is  no  longer  liberty  ;  for  there  is 
no  civil  liberty  which  is  not  defined  and  defended. 

There  follows  another  consequence  from  this  crea 
tion  of  law  and  its  obligations  by  the  sovereignty  of 
the  people  :  that  is,  the  public  officers  are  the  crea- 


270  AMERICAN  EDUCATION. 

tures  of  the  law  only.  Their  tenure  is  not  held  from 
any  power  independent  of  the  people,  which  can'en- 
large  or  diminish  their  powers  ;  but  is  a  precise  and 
defined  creation  of  the  popular  sovereignty  through 
the  law.  Hence  public  officers,  in  relation  to  the 
people,  have  precise  and  limited  functions,  which,  if 
they  transcend,  their  acts  are  void. 

Thus,  we  have  all  the  rights,  duties,  and  obliga 
tions  of  the  citizen,  and  all  the  powers  of  public 
officers,  and  the  limitations  of  the  law  itself,  traced 
up  to  the  Constitution.  The  Constitution,  therefore, 
is  the  political  and  legal  guide  of  the  citizen. 


THE    CITIZEN    AN    OFFICER. 


Every  citizen  of  the  republic  is  liable  to  become 
an  officer  of  the  republic,  in  some  of  all  the  legisla 
tive,  judicial,  or  executive  stations,  which  require  the 
performance  of  public  duties.  There  are  in  the 
United  States  full  five  hundred  thousand  public  offi 
cers,  from  school  director  up  to  the  President.  Prob 
ably  there  are  more  than  even  this  great  number. 
One  in  six  of  all  the  male  white  citizens  of  the  repub 
lic  are  actually  in  office.  But,  as  many  are  in  office 
but  a  short  time,  there  is  a  rapid  rotation ;  so  that 
probably  one-fourth  the  voters  of  the  Union  are,  at 
some  time  or  other,  called  into  office ! 

The  performance  of  these  duties,  however  small  or 
humble,  requires  the  officer  to  look  into  the  law 
which  regulates  his  duties.  This  law,  again,  has 


LAW-BOOK  OF  THE  NATION.  271 

some  reference  to  the  State  Constitution,  if  not  to 
that  of  the  Union.  In  a  special  as  well  as  a  general 
sense,  the  citizen  is  required  to  know  something  of 
the  outline  of  the  constitutional  law  of  the  country. 
I  know  how  easy  it  is  to  say,  that  all  that  is  required 
is  to  read  the  statute  ;  that  a  great  deal  of  informa 
tion  is  got  by  political  discussion ;  that  newspapers 
are  the  great  medium  of  intelligence ;  and  that, 
finally,  it  is  impossible  for  common  citizens  to  be 
scholars,  and  learn  law,  and  study  constitutions. 
There  is  much  truth  in  all  this,  but  it  is  not  the  whole 
truth.  Political  discussions  and  ephemeral  publica 
tions  furnish  a  certain  degree  of  information  ;  but 
this  information  is  partial,  and  often  erroneous.  It  is 
superficial  and  inadequate.  It  may  do  for  those  who 
have  no  time  to  get  any  thing  better.  But,  when  we 
speak  of  education,  we  speak  of  those  who  have  time 
to  learn  something  better.  We  speak  of  those  to 
whom  schools,  academies,  and  colleges  are  accessible. 
When  we  speak  of  the  means  of  education,  we  speak 
of  those  to  whom  education  is  a  possible  thing.  To 
say  that  there  is  any  portion  of  the  citizens  of  a 
republic  to  whom  education  is  impossible,  is  to  accuse 
the  republic  itself  of  gross  injustice,  and  of  fatal 
wrong  to  itself. 

When  I  say,  then,  that  one-fourth  of  all  the  citi 
zens  of  the  republic  will  be  called  upon  to  perform 
the  duties  of  public  officers,  I  assume  that  full  that 
proportion  of  the  citizens  have  time  and  means  to 
make  themselves  acquainted  with  the  organic  law  of 


272  AMERICAN  EDUCATION. 

the  republic,  and  I  give  the  best  reason  why  they 
should  acquaint  themselves  with  it. 


THE  CONSTITUTION  AN  INSTRUCTOR. 

To  acquire  absolute  knowledge  is,  as  I  have  shown 
in  previous  chapters,*"  very  far  from  being  the  only, 
or  even  the  principal  object,  in  the  selection  of  the 
topics  of  education.  The  chief  object  is  to  strength 
en,  discipline,  enlarge,  and  in  all  respects  improve  the 
mind.  But  the  mind  has  various  faculties,  or  sus 
ceptibilities  of  improvement  in  various  directions. 
Whatever  this  may  be  called,  it  is  certain  these  fac 
ulties  may  be  improved  by  different  kinds  of  exer 
cise.  Thus  the  memory  may  be  improved  in  a 
remarkable  degree,  while  the  reasoning  is  deficient. 
So,  also,  the  reasoning  may  be  exercised  in  different 
ways.  I  have  exhibited  mathematics  and  astronomy 
as  educators  in  strict,  logical  reasoning ;  history  as 
teaching  social  science ;  language  as  teaching  the 
structure  and  philosophy  of  thought ;  literature  as 
the  written  expression  of  thought ;  and  conversation 
as  the  interchange  of  intelligent  minds.  But  neither 
of  these  teaches  that  peculiar  train  of  reasoning 
which  is  connected  with  the  operations  of  civil 
society.  They  raise  no  questions  in  relation  to  law 
and  government.  Now,  it  is  absolutely  certain  that 


The  Utility  of  Mathematics,  chapter  6. 


LAW-BOOK  OF  THE  NATION.  273 

the  whole  train  and  manner  of  reasoning,  in  relation 
to  civil  laws,  is  totally  different  from  that  called  forth 
in  the  positive  sciences.  A  new  class  of  ideas  is 
developed,  and  a  dormant  species  of  intellectual 
functions  called  forth.  It  follows  inevitably,  that  the 
study  of  the  best  form  of  government  will  be  a  use 
ful  element  in  any  well-adapted  course  of  American 
education.*  What  is  the  best  form  of  government? 
The  Constitution  of  the  United  States  is  the  only 
instrument  which  exhibits  a  perfect  picture  of  repub 
lican  government.  That  instrument  is  itself  an  out 
line  of  the  science  of  organic  law.  It  is  a  study  for 
the  wisest  of  men,  and  is  to  all  young  minds  the 
geometry  of  law.  It  contains  all  the  principles  in 
their  elementary  form,  which  enter  into  the  idea  of 
government.  Nothing,  therefore,  can  improve  the 
mind  more  than  a  critical  study  of  that  instrument. 
Nothing  can  be  better  adapted  to  bring  out  that  kind 


*  I  have  seen  it  stated  in  a  respectable  newspaper,  that  these 
political  studies  of  any  kind  ought  to  be  banished  from  places  of  edu 
cation,  because  the  professor  will  thus  indoctrinate  his  pupils  with 
party  doctrines  1  This  is  precisely  of  a  piece  with  the  objection  to 
the  study  of  the  Bible,  because  it  will  teach  sectarianism  !  This 
objection  is  fatal  to  the  whole  circle  of  social  sciences,  which  must 
soon  become  the  principal  objects  of  study.  Of  course,  these  object 
ors  would  not  have  history  studied,  for  that  is  full  of  both  party  and 
sectarianism  !  They  cannot  study  the  philosophy  of  light ;  for  light 
is  composed  of  the  seven  colors  of  the  rainbow,  and  of  course  is 
parti-colored !  In  fine,  the  objection  either  amounts  to  nothing,  or  it 
'is  fatal  to  education. 

18 


274  AMERICAN  EDUCATION. 

of  reasoning  which  is  requisite  to  the  perception  and 
understanding  of  the  structure  and  principles  of  civil 
society. 

Nor  need  any  one  apprehend  that  the  value  of  this 
study  will  diminish  with  the  passage  of  time.  The 
Constitution  is  an  imperishable  monument  in  the 
highway  of  nations.  The  waves  which  sweep  away 
the  ephemeral  productions  of  human  genius,  will 
wash  in  vain  its  adamantine  base.  It  is  a  durable 
structure.  Opposition  will  cement  its  strength  ;  age 
will  make  it  classical ;  posterity  will  admire  its  beau 
tiful  proportions  ;  generation  after  generation  will  re 
pose  in  security  under  the  protection  of  its  lofty  col 
umns  ;  the  student  of  liberty  will  come  a  pilgrim 
to  its  portico  from  every  clime,  and  its  glorious 
form  become  a  model  to  every  nation. 


THE  BIBLE THE  LAW-BOOK  FROM  HEAVEN.        275 


CHAPTER   XIII. 

THE  BIBLE THE  LAW-BOOK  FROM  HEAVEN. 

"  All  Scripture  is  given  by  inspiration  of  God,  and  is  profitable  for  doctrine, 
for  reproof,  for  correction,  for  instruction  in  righteousness :  that  the  man  of  God 
may  be  perfect,  thoroughly  furnished  unto  all  good  works."—  St.  Paul. 

IF  the  law-book  of  the  nation  be  necessary  to  the 
furnishing  of  a  well-educated  mind,  still  more  is  that 
law-book  from  heaven,  which  is  filled  with  all  divine 
knowledge  as  yet  communicated  to,  man.  Nay,  if 
science,  if  literature,  if  language,  if  liberty  itself 
were  wanting,  the  Christian  would  still  find  an  inex 
haustible  treasury  of  knowledge,  of  doctrine,  and  in 
struction,  in  the  Scriptures,  which  would  be  alike 
his  consolation  and  his  support.  Well  has  Cowper 
sung— 

" there  is  a  liberty  unsung 

By  poets,  and  by  senators  unprais'd, 

Which  monarchs  cannot  grant,  nor  all  the  pow'rs 

Of  earth  and  hell  confed'rate  take  away." — 

It  is  of  the  Bible,  however,  as  a  means  of  educa 
tion  only,  that  I  would  speak.  As  a  book  of  divine 
law,  no  one  can  think  of  the  Holy  Volume  without 
awe.  It  seems  as  if  we  were  speaking  of  the  Inner 
Temple,  where  a  divine  presence  shines  on  every  ob- 


276  AMERICAN  EDUCATION. 

jecl,  and  makes  them  sacred  in  our  sight !  This 
sacred  book,  however,  has  been  made  free  and  open 
to  all  inquiring  minds.  "  Search  the  Scriptures  ;" 
for  they  are  profitable  for  doctrine,  for  reproof,  for 
correction,  and  for  instruction  in  righteousness. 
These  terms  comprehend  a  wide  range  of  knowl 
edge,  and  are  by  no  means  confined  to  metaphysical 
doctrines  or  theological  tenets.  It  embraces  some 
thing  of  almost  all  branches  of  information,  and  on 
some  subjects  comprehends  all  that  is  known  ;  while 
on  the  true  nature  and  destiny  of  man,  it  contains 
all  that  we  can  know,  because  it  is  all  that  God  has 
chosen  to  reveal.  It  would  be  absurd,  therefore,  to 
reject  the  Bible  in  a  system  of  education,  if  it  were 
considered  merely  as  a  book  of  literature  or  knowl 
edge  ;  but  when  it  is  considered  as  a  book  of  divine 
law,  inspired  of  God,  to  reject  it  as  a  means  of  in 
struction  is  not  only  absurd,  but  insane.  It  would 
be  to  shut  out  light  and  welcome  darkness,  for  no 
reason  but  that  man  loved  darkness  better  than  light ! 
Let  us  glance  at  the  reasons  why  the  Bible  should 
be  studied  as  a  book  of  instruction. 

THE  DIBLE  THE   OLDEST  AND  TRUEST  HISTORY. 

No  human  history  whatever  exists  of  the  origin, 
being,  progress,  social  organization,  laws,  science,  or 
civilization  of  the  human  race  for  the  first  two  thou 
sand  years  of  human  existence.  The  Book  of  Gen 
esis  contains  it  all.  In  that  brief,  .-olifj.  rowlensed 


THE  BIBLE THE  LAW-BOOK   FROM   U HAVEN.       277 

record,  where  every  sentence  contains  the  matter  of 
a  volume,  is  registered  and  delineated  every  fact, 
every  principle,  and  every  germinal  idea  which  has 
governed  and  directed  the  entire  family  of  man  from 
the  first  to  the  last  hour  of  time.  There  lies  the  ori 
gin  of  nations,  the  causes  of  their  separation  ;  the 
predestination  of  races  ;  the  seeds  of  prosperity  and 
adversity  ;  a  world  deluged  with  destruction,  and  a 
world  restored  with  the  hope  of  a  glorious  future. 
There  we  see  the  first  man  leaving  the  Eden  of  crea 
tion,  and  with  the  first  mother,  hand  in  hand,  taking 
their  solitary  way  ;  there  we  see  the  first  murderer, 
the  first  shepherd,  the  first  artificer,  the  first  war,  the 
first  building  of  cities,  the  first  colonies,  the  migration 
of  tribes,  the  wandering  of  men  away  from  civiliza 
tion,  and  their  alienation  from  the  worship  of  the 
true  God  ;  there  we  see  the  most  marvellous  pictures 
of  real  things  ;  there  are  patriarchs  who  lived  for 
ages,  angels  who  conversed  with  men.  and  men 
who  communed  with  spirits.  All  was  new,  and  fresh, 
and  wonderful :  the  angelic  host  had  not  yet  wholly 
abandoned  the  earth,  and  man  had  not  yet  learned 
to  pursue  his  pilgrimage  alone. 

This  history  of  more  than  two  thousand  years  of 
the  most  wonderful  period  of  the  human  race,  belongs 
to  the  Bible.  Strike  the  Book  of  Genesis  out,  and 
you  can  find  it  nowhere  else.  In  vain  you  search 
the  ruins  of  Egypt ;  in  vain  you  dig  up  the  founda 
tions  of  Nineveh  ;  in  vain  you  search  the  boasted  an 
tiquities  of  Hindostan  ;  in  vain  you  read  the  pre- 


278  AMERICAN  EDUCATION. 

tended  legends  of  China—all  is  darkness,  or  all  is 
fable.  Every  history,  every  tradition,  every  philoso 
phy,  every  book,  however  assuming  authority,  every 
science,  and  every  art  fails  to  discover  the  early  his 
tory  of  man  !  Here  only  we  have  it.  Brief,  sen 
tentious,  rapid  in  its  survey,  and  yet  picturesque,  it 
is  the  history  of  man  in  his  creation,  his  progress,  his 
separation,  his  wanderings,  and  his  civilization,  du 
ring  one-third  his  recorded  life  on  earth  ! 

If  this  history  were  lost,  the  entire  foundation  of 
human  knowledge  would  be  lost ;  for  all  that  we 
know  of  the  history  and  progress  of  the  human  race 
is  connected  with,  bound  to,  and  derived  from  this 
short  record  of  its  primitive  age.  Nothing  can  be 
gathered  from  ruins,  from  tradition,  from  conjecture, 
fancy,  or  philosophy.  Here  is  all ;  and  this  history 
contains  the  axioms,  definitions,  and  elements  of  all 
historical  science.  It  is  a  solid  foundation,  around 
which  the  storms  of  time  have  beaten  in  vain. 

Nor  is  it  only  in  this  history  of  the  early  ages  that 
the  Bible  is  valuable  and  peculiar  for  its  historical 
information.  All  subsequent  history  is  deduced  from, 
and  dovetailed,  as  we  may  say,  into  this  Genesic  rec 
ord.  The  Bible  continues  to  record  the  transac 
tions  in  part,  and  the  moral  history  entirely,  of  all 
the  primitive  nations  during  fifteen  hundred  years, 
since  the  patriarchal  period.  There  are  portions  of 
the  beginning,  rise,  prosperity,  glory,  and  ruin  of 
Egypt,  Chaldea,  Babylonia,  Tyre,  and  Persia,  in  ad 
dition  to  the  complete  history  of  the  Hebrews,  in 


THE  BIBLE THE  LAW-BOOK  FROM  HEAVEN.       279 

whom  reposed  for  many  ages  the  highest  civilization 
on  earth.  This  history  also  does  what  no  human 
history  can  ever  do :  it  verifies  itself  by  a  continual 
reference  to  existent  facts,  and  by  a  continual  consist 
ency  of  each  part  with  every  other.  The  monu 
ments  of  Egypt,  the  ruins  of  Nineveh  and  Babylon, 
the  concurrent  history  of  all  nations,  and  the  tradi 
tions  of  all  people,  so  far  as  they  relate  to  the  same 
subject,  have  corroborated,  and  most  wonderfully  il 
lustrated,  the  Biblical  record.  More  wonderful  yet  is 
its  own  consistency,  stating  briefly,  and  yet  most 
positively,  the  facts  which  must  run  through  and  gov 
ern  the  condition  of  a  race  or  a  nation  through  thou 
sands  of  years ;  and  while  that  fact,  too,  must  be  mul 
tiplied  and  ramified  in  thousands  of  channels,  like  the 
minute  fibres  in  the  root  of  some  mighty  tree  ;  yet 
we  find  that  all  subsequent  facts  consist  with  the 
original  statement,  all  subsequent  history  but  serves 
as  a  verification  of  the  original  record.  As  time 
brings  us  nearer  to  the  issue  of  the  drama,  the  char 
acters,  principles,  and  plan  of  the  divine  history 
become  more  apparent  and  conspicuous.  All  is 
order,  beauty,  and  harmony. 

THE  BIBLE  IS  A  DELINEATOR  OF  HUMAN  NATURE. 

All  discussions  upon  moral  philosophy,  intellectual 
philosophy,  and  metaphysical  laws  generally,  at  last 
depend  upon,  and  centre  in,  two  ideas,  viz.,  the  na 
ture  of  the  soul,  and  the  nature  of  its  obligations. 


280 


AMERICAN   EDUCATION. 


Now,  the  origin  and  nature  of  the  soul  and  its  obliga 
tions  are  fully  stated  in  the  Bible.  Where  is  he  who 
has  added  any  thing  to  that  knowledge  ?  Where  is 
the  philosopher,  the  writer,  the  genius,  the  reasoner, 
who  has  been  able  to  discover  a  faculty  of  the  mind, 
or  a  source  of  moral  obligation,  which  was  not  known 
to  the  prophets  of  Judea  ?  If  a  man  cannot  add  one 
cubit  to  his  stature,  still  less  can  he  add  a  new  qual 
ity  to  his  soul.  Humbling  as  the  thought  may  be, 
and  ought  to  be,  it  is  yet  a  truth,  that  while  man  has 
been  endued  with  faculties  capable  of  conquering 
matter  and  civilizing  society,  and  out  of  all  bringing 
glorious  triumphs,  he  has  been  utterly  unable  to  add 
any  thing  to  the  soul  itself,  or  discover  any  thing  of 
its  nature  beyond  what  is  revealed  in  the  Scriptures. 
That  is  a  path  in  which  faith,  not  reason,  must  be  his 
guide  and  friend  : 

"  Dim  as  the  borrow'd  beams  of  moon  and  stars 
To  lonely,  weary,  wandering  travellers, 
Is  reason  to  the  soul ;  and  as  on  high, 
Those  rolling  fires  discover  but  the  sky, 
Not  light  as  here  ;  so  reason's  glimmering  ray 
"Was  lent,  not  to  assure  our  doubtful  way, 
But  guide  us  upward  to  a  better  day." 

It  is  true,  that  many  philosophers  have  busied 
themselves  with  systematizing  what  is  called  intel 
lectual  philosophy,  and  codifying  the  laws  of  moral 
philosophy;  but  what  iota  of  real  knowledge  has 
been  added  to  the  original  stock  ?  Much  dangerous 
speculation  has  been  engrafted  on  revealed  truth, 


THE  BIBLE THE  LAW-BOOK  FROM  HEAVEN.       281 

but  no  real  discoveries  made.  These  treatises  may 
in  some  sense  be  valuable,  by  classifying  the  facts 
and  phenomena  of  mind ;  but  when  we  want  simply 
to  realize  the  actual  powers  and  duties  of  the  soul, 
they  cannot  give  us  any  real  addition  to  the  knowl 
edge  revealed  in  the  Bible. 

The  portrait  of  man,  in  his  generic  character,  as 
given  in  the  Scriptures,  is  a  daguerreotype  of  his 
moral  nature,  drawn  by  the  pencil  of  divine  light. 
It  is  accurate  in  all  respects.  No  human  being  has 
been  able  to  read  that  description  of  man,  and  say — 
This  is  not  my  nature.  No  one  has  been  so  great, 
and  none  so  low,  that  their  likeness  was  not  inscribed 
on  the  pages  of  Holy  Writ :  none  have  been  so  base, 
and  none  so  noble,  none  so  deformed,  and  none  so 
perfect,  that  all  his  features,  his  peculiarities,  his 
baseness,  or  his  glory,  have  not  been  drawn  so  clearly, 
so  strikingly,  that  through  all  the  ages  of  time  that 
character  will  stand  forth,  and  those  features  be  rec 
ognized  ! 

The  Bible  is  the  only  book  which  contains  this 
portrait  of  human  nature.  It  is  the  only  one  in  which 
this  branch  of  knowledge  can  be  learned.  If  it  be 
useful,  then,  for  man  to  know  himself  (and  ancient 
philosophers  have  said  this  was  the  most  valuable  of 
knowledge),  certainly  it  is  useful  to  study  the  Bible, 
which  alone  contains  an  accurate  account  of  human 
nature. 


282  AMERICAN  EDUCATION. 


THE  BIBLE  CONTAINS  THE  DIVINE  LAW. 

That  there  are  certain  impulses  of  feelings,  and 
suggestions  of  uninstructed  reason,  which  mapr  be 
called  the  law  of  nature,  and  sometimes  lead  to  right 
actions,  St.  Paul  admits  when  writing  to  the  Romans. 
But  that  this  is  an  insufficient  moral  law,  and  totally 
inadequate  to  perfect  any  part  of  character,  much 
less  lead  to  the  righteousness  of  faith,  the  same  in 
spired  writer,  in  the  same  epistle,  proves,  by  drawing 
the  darkest  picture  of  human  depravity,  when  re 
strained  by  no  other  law,  which  was  ever  exhibited 
to  human  eyes.  It  is  a  true  picture  of  the  Roman, 
in  his  highest  estate  of  glory ;  and  a  true  picture  of 
man,  unguided  and  unrestrained  by  a  divine  law,  in 
every  age  and  in  every  nation. 

There  follows,  then,  from  this  fact,  that  there  is  a 
need  of  a  divine  law.  Because  there  was  a  need  of 
it  to  perfect  his  announced  plan  of  mercy,  God  re 
vealed  such  a  law.  It  was  revealed,  at  first,  in  a 
dark  age  of  the  world,  when  the  visible  and  tangible 
only  could  be  understood  by,  and  impressed  upon  the 
human  mind.  It  was  revealed,  therefore,  in  the  midst 
of  all  the  sublime  phenomena  which  could  strike  and 
astonish  the  wondering  soul.  It  was  attended  by  the 
visible  presence  of  divine  glory.  It  was  given  to 
men  invested  with  supernatural  power.  It  was  re 
vealed  to  a  peculiar  people.  It  was  preserved  by  a 
succession  of  extraordinary  acts.  The  spirits  of 


THE  BIBLE THE  LAW-BOOK  FROM  HEAVEN.       283 

heaven,  and  all  the  elements  of  earth,  were  made  to 
conspire  in  preserving,  extending,  and  glorifying  this 
holy  law. 

Such  was  the  first  dispensation  of  the  law,  revealed 
in  an  age  of  darkness,  but  accompanied  by  types  and 
shadows  of  a  more  glorious  dispensation  yet  to  come. 
For  two  thousand  years,  this  divine  law  continued  to 
be  the  only  spiritual  light  visible  amidst  the  darkness 
of  antiquity.  On  Judah's  hills  and  Syrian  plains  it 
continue/Tto  shine,  invested  with  supernatural  glory, 
guarded  by  supernatural  power,  and  gradually  ex 
tending  its  illumination  over  other  nations  and  other 
lands. 

This  illumination  was  not  confined  to  the  peculiar 
people  to  whom  the  divine  law  was  originally  re 
vealed.  It  was  a  light  shining  in  a  dark  place,  but  a 
light  which  could  not  be  hid.  Through  the  midst  of 
ancient  empires  some  knowledge  of  this  law  extended. 
Daniel  proclaimed  it  in  the  court  of  Babylon,  and 
Jonah  preached  it  amidst  the  palaces  of  Nineveh. 
Although  unacknowledged  and  unobeyed,  the  tradi 
tions,  history,  laws,  and  even  arts  of  the  ancient 
nations,  exhibit  ample  proof  that  they  were  not  un 
acquainted  with  the  sacred  history  and  holy  laws  of 
the  Hebrews.  And  thus  the  light  of  the  first  dispen 
sation  became  diffused,  in  however  faint  a  degree, 
through  the  civilization  of  antiquity. 

This  was  the  preparation  of  antiquity.  At  length 
the  day  of  the  second  dispensation  dawned  from  on 
high.  It  was  in  the  midst  of  the  most  gigantic  and 


284  AMERICAN   EDUCATION. 

the  most  corrupt  nation  which  had  ever  been  reared 
amidst  the  empires  of  paganism ;  it  was  at  the  height 
of  its  glory ;  it  was  in  the  zenith  of  its  power — when 
its  conquests  overshadowed  the  earth — that  CHRIST 
came  to  announce  the  second  dispensation.  The 
ERA  OF  CHRISTIANITY  was  begun.  The  world  no 
longer  dated  time  (urbe  condita)  from  the  building  of 
the  city,  but  (anno  domini)  from  the  year  of  our 
Lord.  The  calendar  of  time  and  the  annals  of  his 
tory  were  both  changed.  Man  commenced  a  new 
spiritual  era.  Figures  and  shadows  were  forever 
removed,  and  Christ  revealed  the  second  book  of  the 
divine  law. 

It  is  thus  that  the  Bible,  the  HOLY  BOOK,  contains, 
in  our  enlightened  day,  both  volumes  of  the  divine 
law.  It  is  thus  that  the  figures,  and  shadows,  and 
promises  of  the  first  dispensation  have  been  opened 
up,  interpreted,  and  made  clear  to  our  minds,  by  the 
full  beams  of  the  Sun  of  Righteousness. 

This  divine  law  is,  to  all  who  profess  Christianity, 
the  one  fundamental  law  of  life  and  action.  Hence, 
there  can  be  no  Christian  education  without  making 
its  principles,  its  precepts,  and  its  history  a  constant 
study. 

THE    BIBLE     CONTAINS     THE     TRUE     PRINCIPLES     OF 
PROGRESS. 

The  evils  of  mankind  are  various  in  form,  but  one 
in  kind.  Departure  from  the  divine  law  is  the  one 


THE  BIBLE THE  LAW-BOOK  FROM  HEAVEN.       285 

universal  evil ;  but  its  visible  effects  in  deranging 
society,  in  rendering  individuals  unhappy,  in  disturb- 
ing  the  harmony  of  mind,  and  in  creating  moral 
insanity,  among  the  most  gifted  and  beautiful  of  the 
human  race,  manifested  in  thousands  of  forms,  are 
the  special  evils  against  which  philosophers  and  re 
formers  have  directed  their  attacks.  In  this  they 
have  endeavored  to  check  the  stream  at  its  mouth, 
rather  than  its  spring.  But  while  the  spring  remains, 
the  stream  will  flow.  The  ancient  philosophers  enu 
merated  what  they  called  the  cardinal  virtues.  They 
were  prudence,  temperance,  courage,  and  fortitude. 
Yet  nothing  is  more  certain  than  that  a  man  might 
have  all  these,  and  be  neither  wise  nor  good.  The 
savage  has  fortitude,  the  warrior  has  courage,  the 
miser  may  have  both  prudence  and  temperance ; 
but  if  all  that  savage,  warrior,  or  miser  have,  could 
be  united  in  one  person,  he  would  be  neither  lovely 
nor  admirable  without  graces  and  virtues  which  the 
sages  of  Greece  did  not  enumerate. 

There  are  others,  in  more  modern  times,  who  think 
that  if  government  could  everywhere  be  constituted 
on  certain  principles  ;  society  modified  in  certain 
forms  ;  industry  organized  to  produce  the  utmost  pos 
sible  results ;  temperance  be  universally  adopted ; 
and  all  mankind  instructed  in  the  elements  of  intel 
lectual  education :  that  then  the  broken  fragments  of 
society  would  be  moulded  into  a  united  whole ;  the 
disturbed  spirits  rest  at  peace  ;  and  all  move  harmo 
niously  and  beautifully  in  their  respective  orbits  ! 


286  AMERICAN   EDUCATION. 

But  this  whole  scheme  fails  exactly  at  that  point 
where  failure  is  fatal.  All  its  arrangements  are  ex 
ternal  or  social.  It  would  give  a  frame-work  to  so 
ciety,  an  energy  to  industry,  a  system  to  effort,  a  pre 
vention  to  drunkenness,  and  an  instruction  to  intel 
lect.  All  these  are  happy  results  ;  but  do  they,  or 
can  they,  control  the  individual  spirit?  Will  they 
arrest  one  passion  ?  Can  they  call  back  one  wander 
ing  soul  from  its  dark  imaginations  ?  It  is  palpable 
—most  palpable — that  after  all,  it  is  the  individual 
spirits,  deranged  and  diseased,  which  cause  all  the 
mischief.  The  Bible  states  this  fact,  and  then  pro 
poses  a  remedy,  which,  if  adopted,  will  restore  society 
to  a  beauty,  harmony,  and  glory,  beyond  what  the 
most  vivid  imagination  has  ever  pictured  to  itself. 
Its  doctrine,  in  regard  to  human  evils  and  human  ref 
ormations,  is  simple,  direct,  and  positive.  It  states 
as  a  fact,  that  man  has  departed,  and  continues  to 
depart,  from  the  divine  law  :  it  states,  that  as  a  conse 
quence  of  this,  man  has  broken  the  relations  which 
connected  him  with  God  on  one  hand,  and  with  his 
fellow-man  on  the  other.  To  reunite  these  broken 
relations,  is  in  itself  to  restore  harmony  and  peace  to 
the  human  race.  There  are,  then, -given  two  general 
principles  by  which  that  restoration  can  be  effected. 
The  first  is  love  to  God ;  and  the  second,  love  to 
man.  By  the  adoption  of  the  first,  the  divine  law 
will  be  perfectly  obeyed  with  reverence  and  humility, 
because  the  subject  perceives,  admires,  and  loves  the 
wisdom  and  goodness  of  the  law.  By  the  second 


THE  BIBLE THE  LAW-BOOK  FROM  HEAVEN.       287 

principle,  it  is  rendered  impossible  that  man  should 
do  evil  to  man  ;  for  how  can  murder,  or  theft,  or  op 
pression  exist  in  a  society  where  every  one  loves  his 
neighbor  as  himself?  All  actual  evil  becomes  then  im 
possible.  This  is  the  simple,  direct,  and  easily  under 
stood  theory  of  human  reformation  proposed  in  the  Bi 
ble.  It  was  Christ  who  announced  this  doctrine.  He 
was  standing  in  the  temple,  at  Jerusalem,  where  the 
Mosaic  ritual  and  observances  had  for  ages  been  the 
law,  amidst  Pharisees  and  Sadducees,  the  philosophers 
of  Hebraism — in  the  presence  of  those  Roman  con 
querors  who  had  subdued  the  earth — surrounded  by  all 
the  splendors  of  that  Roman  empire,  whose  civil  laws 
were  carried  to  the  highest  point  of  legal  art,  when 
learning  was  the  ornament  and  glory  of  the  greatest 
men,  and  the  brilliancy  of  Greece  yet  illuminated  the 
nations — when  He  announced  this  simple  and  sub 
lime  view  of  the  principles  by  which  human  society 
is  to  be  reformed  and  restored.  Has  experience 
shown  any  other  method  by  which  it  can  be  re 
stored  ? 

In  these  simple  principles  are  contained  all  the 
elements  of  the  most  rapid  and  most  powerful  prog 
ress  of  which  society  is  capable.  They  are  not 
opposed  to  any  thing  not  inconsistent  with  them 
selves.  They  are,  therefore,  not  opposed  to  any  par 
tial  or  minor  plan  of  reformation  which  may  prom 
ise  good.  On  the  contrary,  these  great  principles 
will  energize  and  make  effectual  any  partial  and  par 
ticular  plans  of  good  which  human  ingenuity  may 


288  AMERICAN   EDUCATION. 

devise   for  human  reform ;    but  in  those  principles 
themselves  lie  all  the  elements  of  real  progress. 


THE  BIBLE  ANNOUNCES  FUTURE  GLORY. 

Hope  is  the  strongest  excitant  of  the  human  mind. 
It  is  exhibited  in  various  forms.  We  hope,  not  only 
for  ourselves,  but  for  others  ;  for  communities,  for  na 
tions,  for  country,  and  for  the  world.  Perhaps  the 
brightest  picture  which  ever  floated  before  the  hu 
man  vision  is  that  of  a  lost  race  restored  a  world  in 
ruins  rebuilt  in  all  beautiful  proportions  ;  wandering 
orbs  returning  to  their  spheres ;  a  discordant  society 
made  harmonious  ;  a  fractured  harp  made  whole  ; 
and  the  air  made  melodious  with  its  sweetly  swelling 
music  ! 

Such  is  the  picture  set  before  us  in  the  Bible  of  a 
future  condition  of  society  upon  earth.  To  the  eye 
oi  faith  this  future  is  clearly  visible.  However  near, 
or  however  remote,  there  are  no  clouds  or  shadows 
which  can  obscure  its  glorious  certainty.  The 
Christian  of  this  day  sees  it,  if  possible,  with  even 
more  clearness  than  did  the  prophet  of  Judah,  when 
announcing  it  from  Judah's  hills.  He  sees  now  the 
fulfilment  of  long  trains  of  prophecy ;  he  sees  the 
Jerusalem  of  the  first  dispensation  perished  ;  he  sees 
the  Messiah  ascended  ;  he  sees  the  leaven  hid  in  the 
lump  bursting  out  through  the  earth  ;  he  sees  the 
dark  power  of  paganism  crumbling  away ;  he  sees 
the  leaves  for  the  healing  of  nations  scattered  through 


THE  BIBLE THE  LAW-BOOK  FROM  HEAVEN.       289 

the  earth ;  he  sees  light  rising  in  the  regions  of  dark 
ness  ;  he  sees  that  knowledge  is  increased ;  and  he 
feels,  with  almost  the  strength  of  Daniel,  that  a  glo 
rious  future  is  drawing  near,  and  that  the  prophetic 
picture  may  soon  be  realized  in  all  its  beauty. 

Leaving  out  the  special  hopes  of  individuals — so 
bright  to  the  eye  of  faith — there  is  no  doubt  that  the 
coming  glory  depicted  in  the  Bible  is  an  animating 
thought  and  exciting  hope  to  multitudes  of  Chris 
tians.  It  stands  out  clear,  and  above  all  the  obscu 
rity  of  our  present  circumstances  :  it  is  the  rising, 
not  the  setting  star.  Cloudy  and  tempestuous  as 
may  be  the  day  of  our  pilgrimage  here,  yet  to  our 
longing  eyes  that  light  will  remain  the  consolation  of 
the  past,  the  support  of  the  present,  and  the  hope  of 

the  future. 

25 


290  AMERICAN  EDUCATION. 


CHAPTER    XIV. 

• 

THE   EDUCATION   OF  WOMEN. 

"So  God  created  man  in  his  image:  in  the  image  of  God  created  he  him; 
male  and  female  created  he  them." — Genesis,  i.  27. 

"  Male  and  female  created  he  them  ;  and  blessed  them,  and  called  their  name 
Adam  in  the  day  when  they  were  created."— Genesis,  v.  2. 

"And  did  not  he  make  one?  Yet  had  he  the  residue  of  the  Spirit.  And 
wherefore  one  ?  That  he  might  seek  a  godly  seed.  Therefore,  take  heed  to 
your  spirit,  and  let  none  deal  treacherously  against  the  wife  of  his  youth." 
—Malachi,  ii.  15. 

NOT  many  years  since  women  were  exposed  to 
sale  in  the  market-places  of  Egypt  and  Turkey. 
The  sale  of  white  women  is  now  confined  to  the 
houses  of  the  slave-merchant ;  but  that  of  black 
girls  still  continues  in  the  open  streets.  At  the  time 
when  Circassian,  and  even  Greek  girls,  were  yet  the 
subjects  of  open  sale,  it  was  related  by  an  English 
traveller,*  that  he  saw,  in  a  market  for  slaves,  about 
twenty  young  white  women  sitting  upon  the  ground 
half  naked,  awaiting  a  purchaser.  One  of  them 
fixed  the  attention  of  an  old  Turk.  The  barbarian 
examined  her  shoulders,  her  limbs,  her  mouth,  her 
neck,  as  minutely  as  he  would  have  examined  a 
horse.  During  this  examination,  the  slave-merchant 
extolled  the-  eyes,  the  elegance  of  form,  and  other 
personal  perfections  of  the  poor  girl,  who  he  said 

*  This  story  is  taken  from  the  work  of  Airny  Martin. 


THE   EDUCATION   OF  WOMEN.  291 

was  an  innocent  of  fourteen.  In  short,  after  a  se 
vere  scrutiny,  and  a  higgling  for  price,  the  innocent 
and  beautiful  girl  was  bought  for  one  hundred  and 
sixty-five  francs  !  She  was  bought,  body  and  soul ; 
but  the  soul  counted  nothing  in  the  bargain.  Her 
mother,  too,  was  there  ;  and  half  fainting  in  her 
mother's  arms,  she  shrieked  for  help  to  her  sad  com 
panions.  Alas !  what  could  that  avail  ?  In  that 
barbarous  land  all  hearts  were  closed.  The  law 
made  them  insensible  to  the  crimes  it  permitted. 
The  affair  was  concluded.  The  girl  was  delivered 
over.  Thus  vanished  for  her,  and  thus  vanishes  for 
all  women  in  that  part  of  the  world,  all  the  future  of 
a  happy  love  !* 

This  scene  was  enacted  eighteen  hundred  years 
after  the  advent  of  Christ,  and  to  this  hour  such  is 
the  treatment  and  such  the  fate  of  women  among  the 
nations  which  number  two-thirds  of  the  human 
race.f  -But  if  such  be  the  condition  of  woman,  what 
is  man  ?  Can  he  forget  with  impunity  that  male  and 
female,  God  created  he  them,  in  his  own  image  ? 


*  All  of  Africa,  nearly  all  of  Asia,  and  some  part  of  Europe,  are 
yet  in  that  unhappy  condition  of  society  in  which  women  are  reall  y 
if  not  nominally,  slaves.  The  system  of  polygamy,  although  in  prac 
tice  confined  chiefly  to  the  rich,  degrades  the  whole  social  condition 
of  women ;  and  the  system  of  ignorance  degrades  them,  if  possible, 
still  more. 

•j-  Some  persons  (whose  minds  seem  capable  of  better  reasoning) 
say  that  women  who  are  slaves  are  not  so  much,  to  be  pitied,  for, 
after  all,  they  have  all  things  necessary  to  their  comfort ; — they  want 


292  AMERICAN  EDUCATION. 

Can  he,  unpunished,  rob  one  half  the  human  species 
of  their  heaven-granted  inheritance  ?  Can  he  roam 
a  freeman,  while  his  copartner  remains  a  slave  ? 
Divine  justice  has,  in  the  constitution  of  things,  made 
a  punishment  for  every  social  crime.  Man  cannot 
overturn  the  divinely-constituted  fabric  of  social 
order,  and  not  fall  in  its  ruins.  The  blows  which 
one  portion  of  the  race  inflict  upon  another,  rebound 
upon  themselves.  The  cries  of  one  suffering  being 
re-echo  in  the  ears  of  another.  The  dark  minds  of 
mothers  cast  their  shadows  upon  their  children ;  and 
upon  their  posterity  will  rest  clouds  and  darkness  till 
the  day  dawns  from  on  high. 

In  the  wide  and  ancient  Orient,  the  cradle  of  the 
human  race,  man  has  degraded  woman ;  but  what  is 
man  ?  Free  born,  he  has  no  idea  of  liberty :  a  des 
pot  without  a  people  ;  civilized  without  humanity ; 
possessed  of  beauty  which  he  cannot  love,  and  a 
family  without  affections — he  stands  alone  amidst 
slaves,  and  amidst  ruins  !  Man  degraded  himself  by 
degrading  women.  An  eminent  writer  has  said,  that 
it  is  an  eternal  law  of  justice,  that  man  cannot  abase 
women  without  falling  into  the  same  degradation ; 
and  he  cannot  elevate  them  without  becoming  bet 
ter.  The  last  thought  is  as  consolatory  as  the  first  is 

nothing  more,  and  are  very  happy  and  contented!  This  sort  of 
argument  excites  in  one  a  feeling  of  profound  indignation.  It  is  in 
itself  an  insult  to  human  nature.  It  places  the  human  being  on  a 
level  with  brutes.  Have  not  the  cattle  what  is  necessary  to  their 
wants,  and  are  they  not  contented  with  their  condition  ? 


THE  EDUCATION   OF  WOMEN.  293 

painful.     If  we  can  elevate  the  future  mothers  of  the 
race  to  a  higher  level,  we  shall  thus  erect  a  platform 
upon  which  to  elevate  the  race  itself.      How  can  we 
do  so  excellent  a  thing  ?     Let  us  contrast  the  degra 
dation  of  woman  in  the  Old  World,  with  her  greatly 
improved,  but  still  imperfect,  condition  in  the  New. 
Let  us  turn  from  the  Orient  to  the  Occidental.     It 
is  in  our  prosperous,  and,  compared  to  the  greatest 
part  of  the  earth,  felicitous  country,  that  woman  has 
attained  both  more  freedom  and  more  elevation  of 
character,  than  has  been  attained  by  her  sex  in  any 
nation  of  the  earth.    Splendid  and  beautiful  examples 
of  female  excellence,  heroism,  and  worth,  shine  out 
from  the  Hebrew  commonwealth  and  the  classic  na 
tions  ;   but,  like  stars  in  a  dark  night,  they  but  make 
more  obvious  the  thick  and  profound  darkness  of  the 
mass  beyond.     It  is  in  the  Republic  of  North  Amer 
ica  only  that  women  have  begun  to  take  their  proper 
rank  in  society.      To  this  fact,  our  testimony  might 
not  be  received  by  the  world,  if  it  were  not  confirmed 
and  established  by  the  impartial  testimony  of  intelli 
gent  travellers   in   all   nations.      Among  those  who 
have  given  the  strongest  evidence  in  favor  of  the  su 
perior  character  of  American  women,  and  their  in 
fluence  on  national  manners,  is  M.  De  Tocqueville, 
who  speaks  of  this  element  as  one  of  the  remarkable 
and   peculiar   characteristics   of  American   society. 
One  of  the  peculiarities  noticed  in  the  condition  of 
women,  is  their  great  freedom,  and  therefore,  greater 
self-sustaining  power.    But  whence  arises  this  greater 

25* 


294  AMERICAN  EDUCATION. 

freedom,  this  greater  energy,   this   greater   power  ? 
Simply  and  only  because,  for  the  most  part,  women 
in  America  are  considered  as  .companions,  and  nei 
ther  slaves  nor  inferiors.    But  whence  does  this  idea  of 
freedom  and  of  untrammelled  personal  responsibility 
arise  ?      It  is  the  one  great  moral  and  social  idea  in 
this  country.     It  has  extended  to  women  the  same 
liberty  which  is  allowed  in  worship  and  government. 
It  has  given  the    individual    liberty   of   action,   and 
thrown  upon  him  the  moral  and  social  responsibility 
for  his  acts.     It  is  the  same  of  women.     It  is  the  one 
universal  idea  of  American  liberty.      If  we  inquire 
whence  is  the   origin  of  this  great  idea,   this   idea 
which  must  soon  fill  the  world,  modify  all  govern 
ment,   and    overturn  all  ancient  institutions  ;    if  we 
inquire  its  origin,  we  trace  it  historically  to  the  first 
colonists.    In  the  first  settlements  there  was  no  other 
idea.      The  women  and  the  men  went  alone  into  the 
wilderness.      Together    they  built    the    first    house  ; 
together  they  erected  the  first  church  ;  together  they 
provided  food  and  raiment ;    together  they  were  bu 
ried  in   the  first  green  grave-yard — leaving  behind 
them  no  hereditary  titles  ;   no  entailed  estates,  to  be 
possessed   by  an  eldest  son,  to  the  exclusion  of  his 
sisters ;  no  badge  of  that  menial  servitude  which  de 
graded  in  the  old  country  the  majority  of  men,  and 
all  of  women.     The  green  fields  they  had  cultivated, 
went  to  their  children,  sharing  equally ;    the  society 
they  had  founded  recognized  their  equal  positions  ; 
the  freedom  of  worship  they  had  enjoyed  was  left  to 


THE  EDUCATION   OF  WOMEN.  295 

their  posterity.     In  fine,  by  the  act  of  exile,  they  be 
came  as  peculiar  a  people  as  the  Hebrews,  when  they 
crossed  the  Red  Sea  from  the  land  of  the  Pharaohs. 
But  why  exiles  ?     Why  fly  from  the  time-honored 
governments  of  the  Old  World  ?      Religious  excite 
ment,  or,  in  other  words,  the    CONVICTIONS  OF  THE 
SOUL,  are  the  only  source  of  the  English  Rebellion, 
the  colonization  of  the  United  States,  the  peculiar 
form  of  the  first  colonies,  the  severity  of  manners, 
the  freedom  of  women,  and  that  long  train  of  polit 
ical  results  which  have  followed,  and  must   follow, 
through  ages  of  time.      And  what  produced  these 
religious  convictions  ?     The  reading  of  the  Bible  laid 
open  to  the  people,  and  the  inquiries  which  that  read 
ing  suggested.      For  twelve  hundred  years  after  the 
advent  of  Christ,  the  people — the  masses  of  the  people 
— read  nothing,  much  less  knew  any  thing,  of  the 
Bible.      For  three  hundred  years  more,  but  few  read 
any  thing.     The  Bible  was  a  closed  book.    Then  the 
Bible  was  opened,  and  the   art  of  printing  sent   it 
round  the  earth :  then  people  read  and  thought ;  they 
thought  and  inquired  ;   they  were  convinced  of  cer 
tain  great  truths,  and  they  acted  upon  them ;    they 
were  repelled,  trampled   upon,   and  derided  by   the 
proud  oppressions  of  the  Old  World  ;  they  fled  to  the 
wilderness,  and  nursed  the  child  of  Christian  liberty, 
till  it   has  become  glorious  in  might  and  beauty — 
going  forth  a  deliverer  of  nations. 

Let  history  be   searched,   and  criticism  examine 
with  microscopic  view  the  minutest  facts,  and  the 


296 


AMERICAN   EDUCATION. 


most  obscure  records,  and  this  at  last  is  the  simple 
sequence   of  causes  by  which  American  liberty  and 
society  are  what  they  are.    Take  from  human  knowl 
edge  those  views  which   the  Bible  furnishes  of  the 
nature  of  the  human  soul,  of  its  functions  and  destiny, 
of  its   relations   to  God  and  its  relations  to  society, 
and  there  is  absolutely  nothing  left  upon  which  to 
found  the  idea  of  a  free  society.     There  is  no  moral 
basis  left  for  such  a  society.     There  is  no  reason  left 
why  the  conqueror  should  not  make  the  conquered  a 
slave ;    or  why  women  should  not  be  regarded  as  in 
ferior  ;    or  why  hereditary  monarchs  should  not  be 
thought  the  natural,  and  therefore  exclusive,  rulers  of 
mankind ;  or,  in  one  word,  why  power  should  not  be 
deemed  the  sole  evidence  of  right.      It  is  the  idea  of 
moral  right,  founded  in  the  nature  of  the  soul,  and 
derived  from  the  Bible,  which  is  the  sole  foundation 
of  republican   government,   and    the   sole   evidence 
that  women  have  equal  rights  in  the  social  system, 
and  are  equal  partners  in  whatever  benefits  society 
can  confer. 

Here,  then,  we  start  in  the  consideration  of  what 
is  necessary  in  the  education  of  women.  It  is,  that 
in  all  moral  and  social  elements  they  are  equal  be 
fore  the  law  of  God,  and  therefore  should  be  equal 
before  the  law  of  man.  In  the  physical  system  they 
are  different ;  and  in  the  political  system,  which  is 
always  an  artificial  arrangement,  it  may  or  may  not 
be  expedient  to  make  them  equal ;  but  in  both  these, 
the  differences  relate  to  nothing  which  any  education 


THE  EDUCATION  OF  WOMEN.  297 

can  influence.  The  education  of  men  in  all  that 
concerns  the  use,  strength,  functions,  and  ultimate 
faculties  of  the  mind,  does  not  relate  to  sex.  Why, 
then,  should  it  do  so  in  women  ?  It  is  only  after  a 
young  man  has  received  the  most  valuable  part  of 
his  education,  and  is  inquiring  how  he  can  earn  a 
livelihood,  that  there  comes  up  any  of  those  practical 
applications  of  knowledge  or  reason  which  may  re 
late  to  his  particular  sex.  In  one  word,  it  is  prac 
tical  business,  and  not  precedent  studies,  which  in  the 
least  relates  to  the  question,  whether  the  student  be 
a  man  or  a  woman.  It  may  be  thought  that  I  have 
stated  the  equal  right  of  women  to  education  in  too 
strong  terms.  But  I  have  turned  the  subject  over  in 
various  ways,  and  can  discover  nothing  in  revelation, 
nature,  or  reason,  which  can  absolve  society  from  its 
moral  obligation  to  give  the  mothers  of  its  children 
the  highest  and  best  education  which  it  is  expected 
those  children  of  either  sex  will  ever  attain.  Let  us 
consider  separately  some  of  the  facts  which  demand 
this  duty  from  society,  and  some  of  the  modes  in 
which  it  may  be  performed. 


THE  HUMAN  NATURE  IS  ONE. 

The  human  soul  has  no  sex.  Human  nature  is  not 
two.  I  state  in  this  proposition  a  broad  fact,  and 
which,  if  it  be  a  fact,  deserves  to  be  seriously  consid 
ered.  It  is  not,  philosophically,  a  necessary  conse- 


298  AMERICAN   EDUCATION. 

quence  from  what  we  know  of  human  nature,  as  it  is 
known  by  observation ;   for  all  we  know  of  human 
nature,  as  seen  and  tangible,  is  known  of  it  as  male 
and  female  only.      But  there  are  two  species  of  evi 
dence  by  which  this  fact  is  irresistibly  established. 
First,  we  have  a  consciousness  of  a  living  and  domi 
nant  spirit,  which  is,  in  fact,  the  real  being ;    and  we 
have,   by   mutual   communion   with   others,  a  con 
sciousness  that  the  original  and  distinctive  attributes 
of  spirit  are  the  same  in  men  and  women,  and  among 
all  nations.     This  of  itself  would  be  conclusive  that 
there  is  no  sex  in  the  soul.     But,  secondly,  there  is  a 
stronger  and  an  entirely  decisive  species  of  evidence 
derived  from  revelation.    There  are  not  two  redemp 
tions,  nor   two   condemnations;    there   are   not  two 
standards  of  character,  nor  two  modes  of  trial;  there 
is  one  commandment,  one  baptism,  one  condemna 
tion,  one  redemption,  and  one  judgment.     In  all  that 
concerns  the  existence  and  nature  of  the  soul,  the 
revealed  law  has  made  no  distinction  between  the 
sexes,  and  acknowledged  none  in  the  world  to  come. 
This  is  enough  :   it  is  decisive ;   for  all  the  purpose 
of  the  soul  and  of  its  future,  human  nature  is  one. 
Neither   clime,   nor   race,  nor   sex,   are    recognized, 
as  affecting  the  attributes  of  spirit,   in  the  eternal 
law.      Therefore,  neither  clime,  nor  race,   nor  sex 
should  be  recognized  as  a  reason  for  denying  to  any 
part  of  the  human  race  an  education  whose  object  is 
the  improvement  of  the  soul,  and  whose  effects  will 
last  through  eternity. 


THE  EDUCATION   OF  WOMEN.  299 


DIFFERENCES    OF    BODY    DO    NOT    IMPLY    DIFFERENT 

FACULTIES. 

All  the  discussions  about  the  relative  value,  and 
strength,  and  character  of  the  sexes,  have  ended  in 
confusion,  and  brought  conviction  to  no  one,- because 
they  have  not  begun  at  the  beginning,  nor  ended  at 
the  end.  There  can  be  no  clear  convictions  of 
truth  when  there  are  no  clear  ideas  of  elementary 
principles.  When  it  is  argued,  that  because  women 
are,  in  the  course  of  nature,  mothers  and  nurses,  and 
by  reason  of  those  offices,  keepers  at  home,  they  are, 
from  that  fact,  to  be  wholly  engaged  on  inferior  ob 
jects  and  inferior  thoughts,  and  are  incapable  of  the 
loftiest  flights  of  the  soul,  it  is  a  false  conclusion. 
It  does  not  follow  from  the  premises.  It  is  what 
logicians  call  a  non  sequitur.  By  way  of  testing  it, 
let  us  apply  a  parallel  argument  to  the  avocations  of 
men.  At  the  same  moment  that  women  were  or 
dained  to  become  mothers  in  sorrow  and  suffering, 
man  was  also  ordained  to  eat  the  herb  of  the  field, 
and  in  the  sweat  of  his  brow  to  eat  the  bread  of  his 
labor.  Suppose  that,  in  conformity  with  this  ordi 
nance,  man  is  assumed  to  be  the  peculiar  and  only 
laborer,  and  therefore,  that  his  mind  is  never  to 
ascend  above  the  avocations  of  mere  labor :  he  is 
never  to  inquire  into  the  phenomena  of  the  natural 
world  ;  he  is  never  to  search  the  laws  of  motion  in 
heavenly  bodies  ;  he  is  never  to  weave  out  the  beau 
tiful  creations  of  fancy  ;  never  to  wander  through 


300  AMERICAN  EDUCATION. 

the  regions  of  philosophy  in  search  of  the  causes, 
operations,  and  laws  of  that  vast  world,  whose  mys 
teries  and  harmonies  delight  his  wondering  spirit ! 
Would  this  inert  and  unproductive  existence  be  a 
just  conclusion  from  the  fact  that  he  was  ordained  to 
be  a  laborer,  eating  his  bread  in  the  sweat  of  his 
brow  ?  Surely  not.  Yet  it  is,  logically,  as  correct 
a  conclusion  as  that  women  are  incapable  of  the 
highest  intellectual  efforts,  because  they  are  ordained 
to  be  mothers  and  nurses.  The  truth,  I  suppose,  is, 
that  the  character  and  powers  of  the  human  soul 
— which  is  the  being — do  not  depend  upon  avoca 
tions. 

Men  and  women  have  been  compared  by  the 
forms  of  their  bodies,  and  by  their  special  avocations 
and  employments.  In  these  are  found  varieties  and 
differences  —  differences  which  are  undeniable  and 
important.  But  these  do  not  necessarily  imply  any 
difference  in  the  fundamental  character  of  the  soul. 
To  think,  to  inquire,  to  sympathize,  are  the  same 
functions  of  life  and  spirit,  whether  exhibited  in  man 
or  woman.  What  constitutes,  then,  the  highest 
character,  must,  in  its  essential  elements,  be  indepen 
dent  of  sex  or  condition.  It  must  depend  on  the 
strength,  the  culture,  the  direction,  and  the  govern 
ment  of  the  individual  soul.  It  is  the  soul  which  is 
the  living  being,  and  it  is  its  immortal  capacities 
which  are  to  be  developed  in  thought,  feeling,  senti 
ment,  and  principle — in  all  worthy  culture,  fitting  it 
for  a  better  life  here,  and  immortal  life  hereafter. 


THE  EDUCATION  OF  WOMEN.  301 


THE  EDUCATION  OF  MOTHERS. 

I  have  now  established  two  facts  which  are  pre 
liminary  to  any  system  of  female  education.  The 
first  is,  that  human  nature  is  one  ;  and  the  second, 
that  differences  of  body  do  not  imply  differences  of 
faculties.  It  is  absolutely  certain  that  on  the  ques 
tion  of  whether  these  are  or  are  not  facts,  must  de 
pend  the  whole  system  of  female  education.  If  these 
are  not  facets,  then  woman  is  essentially  an  inferior 
being,  and  her  education  should  be  adapted  to  that 
inferior  condition  ;  but  if  these  are  facts,  then  her 
education  should  be  essentially  the  same,  in  all  that 
relates  to  the  culture  and  strengthening  of  the  SOUL 
(which  includes  both  the  intellect  and  the  affections), 
as  that  of  man  :  that  is,  that  the  elementary,  funda 
mental,  and  philosophical  part  of  education  which  re 
lates  to  the  development  of  the  faculties,  and  is  inde 
pendent  of  avocations  and  professions,  should  be  the 
same,  in  reference  to  all  individuals,  according  to 
their  time  and  opportunities,  in  the  order  of  Provi 
dence.  I  have  protested  in  another  place  (Chap.  II.) 
against  the  conclusion  that,  because  the  mass  of  man 
kind  must  be  engaged  in  daily  labor,  that,  therefore, 
they  must  not  think  of  attaining  the  higher  and  no 
bler  branches  of  education.*  For  the  same  reason, 

*  There  is  probably  no  impediment  to  general  education  greater 
than  the  popular  idea,  that  education  is  not  necessary  to  the  great 
mass  of  people  engaged  in  common  pursuits  ;   and  the  popular  idea, 
28 


L_ 


AMERICAN   EDUCATION. 


I  protest  against  the  conclusion,  from  the  domestic 
employments  of  women,  that,  therefore,  they  are  in 
capable  of  attaining  or  enjoying  a  superior  education. 
The  existence  of  one  Newton  does  not  prove  that  all 
mankind  can  become  Newtons  ;  but  it  does  prove 
that  human  nature  has  powers  capable  of  such  sub 
lime  exhibitions  of  strength  and  learning.  Newton 
came  into  the  world  with  the  very  feeblest  of  all 
bodies  —  the  candle  of  life  just  flickering  in  the  socket, 
and.  kept  alive  by  the  assiduous  care  of  a  wise  and 
tender  mother.  How  many  other  Newtons  and  how 
many  other  mothers  may  the  world  hold,  whom  such 
care  and  such  culture  would  have  reared  to  such 
illustrious  powers  ! 

So  the  existence  of  women  remarkable  for  learn 
ing  and  intellectual  eminence,  does  not  prove  that  all 
women  are  capable  of  attaining  that  eminence  ;  but  it 
does  prove  that  there  is  nothing  peculiar  in  their 
nature  and  constitution  which  renders  such  eminence 
and  attainments  naturally  impossible.  The  existence 
of  Mrs.  Somerville,  of  Miss  Herschell,  or  of  that 
Italian  lady  who  was  one  of  the  most  distinguished  ma 
thematicians  of  her  age,  does  not,  indeed,  prove  that 
all  women  may  become  astronomers  and  mathema 
ticians,  any  more  than  it  proves  that  such  would  be 

also,  that  women  not  being  legislators,  divines,  lawyers,  and  doctors, 
do  not  require  a  high  education.  Nothing  can  be  more  false  than 
this  idea,  and  if  it  remain  among  the  masses  of  the  people,  we 
cannot  hope  for  universal  knowledge,  or  the  perpetuity  of  freedom. 


THE  EDUCATION  OF  WOMEN.  303 

the  most  profitable  employment  for  them ;  but  it 
does  prove  that  they  are  capable  of  such  studies  and 
acquirements.  It  comes  to  this,  then,  that  women 
have  the  same  faculties,  and  are  capable  of  the  same 
culture  and  acquisitions  as  men ;  they  are  not  infe 
rior,  or  opposite,  or  totally  different  from  men  in  the 
essential  elements  of  character. 

We  come  now  to  the  practical  application  of  this 
principle.     What  reason  is  there  why  women  should 
be  highly  educated,  or  as  highly  as  the  circumstances 
of  their  condition  will  admit  ?     The  first  thing  we 
observe  is,  that  women  are  the  mothers  of  mankind. 
As  such,  they  are  the  first  teachers.     This  fact  can 
not  be  avoided.     There  is  no  substitution  possible. 
If  an  infant  is  taken  from  its  mother,  it  must  still  be 
committed  to  a  woman.     For  the  first  five  years  of  its 
life,    at   least,    and   generally  much   longer,  its  sole 
teacher  is  a  woman ;  but,  in  nine  cases  out  of  ten, 
so  as  to  constitute  a  permanent  law  of  the  social  con- 
'dition,   the  mothers  guide  and  influence  their  sons, 
as   well   as  daughters,  through  the  whole  period  of 
youth.     Nay,  their  influence  passes  far  beyond  this, 
so  as  indirectly  to  direct,  in  no  small  degree,  their 
pursuits   in  life.     If  they  do  not  teach  or  influence 
the  studies  of  science  and  literature,  or  govern  in  the 
selection  of  employments,  they  do  what  is  more  im 
portant  :    they    impress  their   passions,    their    preju 
dices,  their  views  and  coloring  of  life  and  society  on 
their  children,  with  a  strength  and  durability  which 
all  subsequent  education  and  experience  can  scarcely 


304  AMERICAN   EDUCATION. 

efface.  The  tree  inclines  as  the  twig  is  bent ;  but, 
with  few  exceptions,  it  is  the  mother  who  gives  that 
bent  to  the  twig.  Her  influence  and  her  teaching 
is  like  the  silent  dews  of  heaven :  it  falls  on  the  soft 
soil  of  the  soul,  and  every  young  and  tender  plant 
springs  up  to  meet  it.  If  there  be  but  one  blade 
of  grass,  it  grows  the  greener ;  if  but  one  bright 
flower,  it  takes  new  colors  from  its  parent  stalk.  In 
fine,  both  by  the  sympathies  of  nature  and  the  prin 
ciple  of  imitation,  the  mother  is  the  model  teacher  of 
the  child.  She  trains  its  instincts ;  she  implants  its 
principles ;  she  points  the  way ;  she  inspires  the  spir 
it  ;  and,  in  fine,  when  that  child  has  gone  far  out  of 
sight  in  the  wayfare  of  life,  and  she  herself  is  de 
scended  to  the  tomb,  this  natural,  but  mysterious, 
influence  remains :  it  hovers  round  the  child,  even 
when  his  head  is  silvered  with  the  locks  of  age ;  it 
lingers  in  the  mind,  like  a  spirit  of  the  dead  come 
with  grave  manner  but  gentle  looks  to  watch  and 
judge  the  actions  of  the  living ! 

This  ever-present,  yet  gentle  and  almost  invisible, 
influence  of  the  mother  is  the  greatest  single  influ 
ence  which  inclines  and  directs  the  minds  of  men  in 
their  young  and  forming  stages.  Hence,  we  find  the 
mother — in  fact,  though  she  should  never  formally 
instruct  her  child  in  a  single  lesson — the  earliest  and 
most  powerful  teacher.  Every  mother  may  not  be 
so.  There  are  exceptions  ;  but  this  is  the  general 
and  natural  rule.  Hence  arises,  at  once,  the  ques 
tion,  What  kind  of  teacher  is  this  mother  ?  How  is 


THE   EDUCATION   OF   WOMEN.  305 

she  qualified  for  this  task  ?  She  cannot  put  it  aside  ; 
she  must  perform.  If  she  were  to  do  nothing,  she 
would  still  be  powerfully  teaching  that  nothing  is 
necessary  to  be  done.  But  this  inertia  the  natu 
ral  instinct  will  not  allow.  She  is  unnatural  who 
does  not  teach  her  children  all  she  can  teach,  and 
procure  done  all  that  she  thinks  useful  to  them. 
What,  then,  can  the  mother  do  ?  Here  we  arrive  at 
the  beginning  of  a  perfect  system  of  education,  viz., 
the  EDUCATION  OF  MOTHERS.  With  these  facts  in 
regard  to  the  condition  of  women  and  their  relation 
to  society  before  us,  we  come  to  inquire  what  shall 
be  the  practical  elements  of  Female  Education. 

SCIENCE    FOR    WOMEN. 

If  women  have  the  same  faculties  with  men,  and 
if  they  are  the  first  teachers  of  men,  and  have  the 
domestic  care  of  families,  then  it  follows  that  their 
reason  and  judgment  should  be  strengthened  and 
cultivated,  in  order  that  they  may  be  able  to  discrim 
inate,  judge,  and  teach  in  the  best  manner.  This 
is  an  inevitable  conclusion,  from  the  premises  I 
have  laid  down.  But  to  strengthen  the  reason  and 
the  judgment  requires  the  study,  analysis,  and  dis 
cussion  of  some  of  the  graver  sciences.  To  this 
studv  and  discipline,  however,  among  women,  there 
have  at  all  times  been  raised  certain  popular  objec 
tions — objections  which,  undeniably,  have  existed 
among  the  most  intelligent  men,  as  well  as  among 
26* 


o06  AMERICAN   EDUCATION. 

almost  the  entire  female  sex.  If  these  objections  pre 
vail,  it  is  in  vain  to  attempt  a  high  order  of  education 
for  women  ;  for  the  very  best  kind  is  that  which  brings 
out  and  strengthens  the  reasoning  powers.  Let  us, 
then,  look  at  these  objections  a  moment,  to  see  if 
they  really  present  any  insuperable  obstacles  to  the 
study  of  science  by  women,  who  have  time  and 
means  for  thorough  studies.  The  very  first  objection, 
though  expressed  in  a  hundred  different  ways  and  in 
very  polite  terms,  is,  in  substance,  that  women  are 
unequal  to  the  task ;  that  is,  in  plain  terms,  they  are 
inferior  to  men.  One  gentleman  says  (and  it  is 
printed  in  books)  that  women  are  governed  more  by 
instinct,  and  men  more  by  reason  !  What  does  this 
mean?  It  can  only  mean,  that  women  have  more 
instinct,  and  men  more  reason  ;  for,  if  they  have  not, 
then  the  one  or  the  other  cannot  be  governed  more 
by  the  one  or  the  other  quality.  God,  then  (accord 
ing  to  the  theory),  has  given  men  more  reason  and 
women  more  instinct.  This  is  contrary  to  all  obser 
vation  and  all  experience.  Has  the  drunken  Indian, 
roving  like  a  beast  in  the  forest,  any  more  reason  than 
his  dark-minded  but  peaceful  wife  ?  Reverse  the  case. 
Has  the  young  squaw,  who  with  pleasure,  and  even 
pride,  becomes  the  second  wife,  sharing  with  the  first 
in  the  household  of  a  great  war-chief,  any  instinct 
that  this  polygamy  is  unlawful  ?  Go  to  any  people, 
savage  or  civilized,  and  there  is  no  example  that 
instinct  has  enabled  women  to  see  any  truth,  which 
reason  had  not  taught  or  God  revealed  to  them.  The 


THE  EDUCATION   OF   WOMEN.  307 

distinction  is  idle.*  Man  is  not  a  beast,  to  be  governed 
by  instincts,  but  a  being,  endowed  with  spiritual  facul 
ties,  and  held  accountable  for  the  use  of  them.  The 
objection  stated  is  completely  met  by  the  simple  fact 
laid  down  in  the  premises  of  this  discussion,  that  hu 
man  nature  is  a  unity,  and  the  faculties  of  the  soul 
the  same  in  both  sexes. 

Another  gentleman  says  (and  that  is  printed  in 
books)  that  man  is  the  strong  oak,  towering  upwards, 
and  woman  the  tender  vine  which  climbs  around  its 
trunk  and  delights  in  its  shade !  This  poetic  figure 
carries  a  very  doubtful  compliment ;  for  it  is  the  poi 
son  vine  which  most  frequently  climbs  round  the 
forest  trees!  The  figure  carries  with  it  a  certain 
degree  of  truth ;  but,  when  applied  to  education, 
utterly  fails.  When  man  is  considered  as  stronger 
in  body,  as  the  conqueror  of  earth,  and  the  builder  of 
houses  and  cities,  and  woman  a  mother,  engaged  in 
domestic  employments,  it  is  figuratively  true  that  she 
reposes  under  the  shade  of  his  labors.  But  what  has 
that  to  do  with  the  faculties  of  mind?  It  is  dif 
ference  of  employments  only.  Does  this  difference 
show  that  either  class  of  employments  needs  not  the 
use  of  reason  ?  Such  an  idea  is  absurd. 

A  third  gentleman  puts  this  thought  in  a  different 
form.     He  does  not  like  to  see  women  masculine! 


*  The  idea  that  there  are  some  such  instincts  in  women  is  still  prev 
alent.  Every  one  must  see  that  to  admit  that  women  are  governed 
by  instincts,  and  not  by  reason,  is  to  admit  their  inferiority. 


308  AMERICAN  EDUCATION. 

He  wants  no  blue  stockings  !  He  thinks  that  women 
should  be  beautiful,  graceful,  ornamental,  delicate,  a 
lily  or  a  rose,  perpetually  blooming,  perennially  fresh, 
for  ever  smiling,  uttering  sweet  words,  and  breathing 
soft  melodies !  Then  he  will  be  ready  to  exclaim  with 
Horace : 

"  Dulce  ridentem,  dulce  loquentem 
Lalagen  amabo." 

There  can  be  no  objection  to  such  a  delightful 
ornament  of  society,  provided  she  be  really  a  woman, 
and  a  reasonable  woman.  But  what  can  she  do  with 
out  reason  ?  She  cannot  be  merely  ornamental  with 
out  being  worthless ;  and  she  cannot  be  useful  with 
out  reason,  and  the  stronger  it  is  the  better.  This 
life  is  a  reality  ;  and  no  woman  can  be  either  wife 
or  mother  without  finding  it  filled  with  realities,  many 
of  them  both  hard  and  sad.  For  all  this  she  requires 
the  more  firmness  of  character,  discrimination,  and 
judgment ;  a  certain  strength  and  proper  use  of  rea 
son  will  enable  her  to  understand  better  the  com 
pensations  of  her  condition,  and  enjoy  a  new  and 
higher  class  of  pleasures  than  she  could  as  one  ot 
the  idle  ornaments  of  society.  Reason  is  no  more 
masculine  than  feeling  is  feminine.  If  it  be  mascu 
line  to  reason,  then  it  is  feminine  to  feel.  Both  ideas 
are  absurdities. 

Another  objection,  and  a  far  more  serious  one,  is. 
that  the  domestic  employments  and  early  marriages 
of  women  do  not  leave  them  time  for  n  more  exten- 


THE   EDUCATION  OF  WOMEN.  3C9 

sive  and  severe  course  of  studies.  This  objection  is 
met  by  the  fact,  that  young  women  have  no  profes 
sional  studies  (so  called)  to  pursue ;  or,  in  other 
words,  their  professional  studies  are  those  of  their 
daily  home  avocations.  Three  years  of  time  is  thus 
gained  to  them ;  another  year  is  gained  by  avoiding 
certain  collateral  and  technical  branches  of  univer 
sity  studies,  which  are  unnecessary  to  women.  If 
the  time  and  studies  of  young  women  are  properly 
ordered,  they  will  have  time  for  the  most  complete 
education  in  what  is  essential  to  either  their  intellect 
ual,  moral,  or  ornamental  cultivation  before  they  are 
twenty  years  of  age. 

The  objections  stated  above  may  therefore  be  con 
sidered  of  no  practical  weight,  when  the  object  is  to 
provide  a  solid,  useful,  and  even  elegant  education  to 
the  young  women  of  our  country. 

We  return,  then,  to  the  cultivation  of  the  REASON 
and  the  Judgment  by  the  study  of  science.  In  this 
respect  all  education  has  the  same  object,  and  must 
be  attained  by  the  same  means.  To  strengthen  the 
understanding  should  be  the  main  object  in  female 
education,  however  many  accomplishments  and 
graces  may  be  also  acquired.  There  is  nothing  more 
certain  than,  without  a  complete  and  ready  use  of 
the  reasoning  powers,  no  education  is  available  in 
practical  life.  There  have  been  men  whose  reten 
tive  memories  have  stored  up  an  almost  incredible 
amount  of  knowledge,  and  yet  they  were  not  able  to 
apply  it  in  any  useful  business ;  and  so  there  may 


310  AMERICAN  EDUCATION. 

be  women  who  have  numerous  accomplishments  and 
much  reading,  yet  who  will  cut  a  very  poor  figure  as 
housekeepers  or  teachers.  The  difficulty  lies  in  the 
want  of  that  discrimination,  power  of  comparison, 
and  judgment,  which  result  from  a  mastery  over  the 
reason ;  an  ability  to  direct  and  use  it  at  will,  by 
making  an  analytical  examination  of  every  subject 
which  comes  before  them  for  decision. 

1.  In  intellectual  instruction,  the  first  thing  to  be 
relied  upon  is  the  study  of  MATHEMATICS.  The 
rule  is  the  same  for  women  as  for  men.  I  shall  not 
go  over  again  the  topics,  which  were  fully  discussed 
in  Chapter  VI.  ;  but  will  only  repeat,  that  the  science 
of  mathematics  embraces  the  great  system  of  natu 
ral  logic,  which  is  not  so  fully  contained  in  any  other 
science,  and  cannot  be  so  well  studied  in  any  other 
way.  Geometry  contains  one  species  of  reasoning; 
algebra  another ;  and  the  applications  of  this  reason 
ing — as  in  descriptive  geometry,  mensuration,  and 
trigonometry— teach  the  use  of  this  logic  in  practice, 
and  the  modes  in  which  theoretical  principles  become 
of  vast  actual  value.  If  these  elements  of  mathe 
matics  be  thoroughly  studied,  the  higher  and  more 
abstruse  branches  need  not  be  undertaken.  There 
will  then  be  time  left  for  some  of  those  applications 
of  science,  which  are,  in  fact,  the  most  beautiful. 
Among  these  I  would  class  the  doctrine  of  perspec 
tive,  of  shadows,  and  of  linear  drawing. 

2.  The  next  subject  of  study  should  be  chemistry, 
which  is  the  first  and  greatest  of  the  experimental 


THE  EDUCATION   OF  WOMEN.  311 

sciences.     There  is  no  branch  of  knowledge  which 
so  charms  the  mind  with  novelty — none  which  exhib 
its   such  striking  and  surprising  phenomena.     It  is 
in  one  respect  a  more  profound  and  interesting  sci 
ence  than  mathematics  :  its  elements  are  deeper ;  it 
does  not  stop  merely  at  figure,  extension,  quantity, 
and  number,  external  qualities  ;  but  it  passes  into  the 
interior  of  objects,  and  searches  out  their  hidden  char 
acteristics.     At  every  moment  we  are  startled  and 
surprised  by  new  results.    But  the  great  advantage  in 
the  study  of  chemistry  is,  that  it  draws  out  and  ex 
ercises  a  new  class  of  faculties.     Thus,  in  the  pure 
mathematics,  we  assume  certain  truths,  axioms,  and 
facts  ;  and  from  these  we  deduce,  by  logical  reason 
ing,  certain  general  laws.     In  chemistry,  we  begin 
and  reason  in  a  different  way.     We  first  observe  facts  ; 
then  we  compare  them,  and  deduce  analogies,  or  draw 
general  laws   from  universal   observation;    then  we 

o 

experiment  on  certain  simple  elements ;  then  we  ana 
lyze,  and  we  compound,  till  a  new  class  of  general 
principles  is  obtained :  thus  we  have  observation, 
comparison,  analogy,  experiment,  and  general  rea 
soning,  all  combined.  We  have  excited  even  the 
imagination  by  new  combinations :  in  fine,  we  have 
called  out  a  new  class  of  faculties ;  we  have  pursued 
a  new  process  of  reasoning ;  and,  as  we  have  pursued 
the  path,  we  have  charmed  and  excited  the  active 
powers  of  mind. 

3.   Natural  philosophy,  or  that  which  describes  the 
phenomena  of  nature,  and  the  general  causes  and 


AMERICAN  EDUCATION. 

laws  thereof,  should  be  the  subject  of  study  in  phys 
ical  science.  There  are  certain  obvious  operations 
of  nature  which  are  continually  occurring,  and  often 
before  the  eyes  of  all  mankind.  Among  savage,  and 
often  among  civilized  nations,  these  are  regarded  as 
mysteries  or  miracles,  entirely  supernatural,  and 
therefore,  causing  an  unreasonable  fear  and  astonish 
ment. 

Thus  eclipses  throw  the  North  American  Indians 
into  terror.  So,  too,  the  phenomena  of  electricity, 
magnetism,  light,  all  present  operations  which  are 
marvellous  to  the  ignorant,  while  they  are  beautiful 
and  exciting  to  the  intelligent.  To  describe,  classify, 
and  explain  these  operations  of  nature,  is  the  object 
of  natural  philosophy.  Here  we  have  a  new  exer 
cise  of  the  understanding.  There  must  be  general 
ization  ;  there  must  be  more  of  memory ;  and  there 
must  be  a  more  precise  observation. 

4.  The  next  subject  in  physical  science  is  mechan 
ical  philosophy.      This  is  not,  as  some  may  suppose, 
the  mere  science  of  mechanics  (which,  indeed,  is  in 
cluded  within  it),  but  is  the  science  of  force  and  mo 
tion,  or  those   two  elements  which  give  life  to   the 
whole  system  of  the  material  universe.     Of  this  phi 
losophy,  that  part  which  comes  under  the  heads  of 
dynamics  and  hydronamics  are  essential  to  an  under 
standing  of  any  part  of  the  machinery  of  the  phys 
ical  world  ;    but  no  branch  of  this  philosophy  should 
be  neglected. 

5.  The  next  and  highest  topic  of  physical  science 


THE  EDUCATION  OF  WOMEN.  313 

is  astronomy.      Of  the  elements   and   uses   of  this 
study  I  have  already  spoken  at  large  in  Chapter  VIII., 
and  here  refer  to  it  only  as  one  of  the  special  topics 
of  study  in  female  education.      I  must  observe,  that 
that  part  of  astronomy  which  only  is  necessary  in 
elementary  instruction,  is  neither  very  abstruse  nor 
very  difficult ;   for  it  does  not  comprehend  the  long 
and    intricate    chains    of    demonstration    by   which 
Galileo,  Kepler,  and  Newton  arrived  at  the  laws  of 
the  heavenly  bodies.     It  is  sufficient  that  in  element 
ary  education  there  is  taught  the  general  facts,  laws, 
and  principles  by  which  the  sublime  system  of  celes 
tial  bodies  has  been  developed  and  sustained.     The 
great  object  of  this   study  in   women  is   to  enlarge 
their  minds  and  develop  philosophical  reasoning,  by 
exhibiting  the  ultimate  and  grand  results  of  all  those 
sciences   and  principles  which  they  had  previously 
studied,  and  which  they  now  perceive  are  coexten 
sive  with  the  universe.      Here  is  mathematics  in  all 
the  forms  of  matter,  and  the  laws  of  quantity  and  re 
lations.   Here  is  chemistry  in  the  composition  of  light 
and  the  affinities  of  bodies.    Here  are  all  the  phenom 
ena  of   natural   philosophy,  and    the    mechanics    of 
creation !     Here  the  student  has  ascended  from  the 
minute  to  the  grand,  from  particulars  to   generals, 
from  the  light  of  a  torch  to  the  light  of  a  thousand 
worlds,  blazing  and  revolving  around  the  throne  of 
the  Creator! 

Let  us  now  see,  if  we  have  pursued  these  studies 
aright,  in  what  order,  and  to  what  extent,  we  have 
27 


314 


AMERICAN   EDUCATION. 


developed  the  faculties  of  the  understanding.  The 
following  is  a  tabular  view  of  ihe  method  we  have 
taken  to  strengthen  the  understanding : — 


Subject  of  Study. 

Operations  of  Mind. 

The  Philosophy. 

1  PERCEPTION, 

1 

CONSCIOUSNESS, 

| 

MATHEMAT 
ICS. 

REASONING, 
DEDUCTION, 

1        The  Logic  of 
f     Demonstration. 

ANALYSIS, 

CONCLUSION. 

J 

f  OBSERVATION, 

1 

EXPERIMENT, 

CHEMISTRY. 

J                                 ' 
-\    ANALOGY, 

EXAMINATION, 

mi 

1        The  Logic  of 
|         Experiment. 

t  JUDGMENT. 

J 

NATURAL 

f  OBSERVATION, 
j    REFLECTION, 

}The  Relations  of 

PHILOSOPHY. 

j    CAUSATION, 

Cause  and  Effect. 

[_  MEMORY. 

. 

f  APPLICATION    OF     PRINCI 

MECHANICAL 
PHILOSOPHY. 

PLES, 
•I    REALIZATION  OF  POWER, 
1    ANALYSIS  OF  FORCES, 

The  Relations  of 
[  Force  and  Motion. 

(_  EXAMINATION  OF  MOTION. 

J 

ASTRONOMY. 

f  OBSERVATION, 
,     GENERALIZATION, 
[  SYSTEMATIZING. 

1     The  Generaliza- 
j       tion  of  Causes. 

J 

The  above  table  may  not  be  strictly  accurate  in  its 
philosophical  arrangement,  but  it  is  sufficiently  so  to 
show  how  numerous  and  various  are  the  operations 
of  mind  which  have  been  called  into  play  by  this 
course  of  scientific  studies. 


THE   EDUCATION   OF  WOMEN.  315 


THE  CULTIVATION   OF  LANGUAGE. 

A  woman  has,  in  some  respects,  more  need  of  the 
use  and  command  of  language  than  men ;    for  she  is 
known    and    is    influential    chiefly  by   conversation. 
The  oral  utterance  of  her  thoughts  is  her  principal 
mode  of  communion.      Her  expression  should  be  flu 
ent,  and  her  vocabulary  copious.      To  have  this,  she 
should  study  the   science  and  art  of  language  thor 
oughly.      To  this  end,  some  one  language  should  be 
selected,  and  made  by  the  teacher  the  subject  of  crit 
ical  examination    and    philosophical    inquiry.      Use, 
reading,  and  criticism,  are  the  best  means  of  acquir 
ing  a  knowledge  of  the  structure  and  philosophy  of 
language.      There  is  much  difference  of  opinion  at 
this  time,  even  among  educated  men,  as  to  the  neces 
sity  or   advantage  of   studying   either  or   both    the 
dead  languages.      This  difference  of  opinion  extends 
to  the  education  of  both  men  and  women.      It  must 
be  admitted,  however,  that  if  it  were  decided  to  take 
the  most  perfect  language  which  can  be  found,  and 
make  that  the  subject  of  a  purely  philosophical  study, 
that  then  no  languages  will  compare  with  the  Greek 
and  Latin  :    they  are  refined,  elegant,  and  complete  ; 
but  the  time  required  for  their  study  is  very  great 
compared  with  .the  total  time  which   most  students 
can  afford.     In  the   case  of  young  women,  another 
objection  is  found  in  the  fact,  that  one  of  the  modern 
languages  (in  addition  to  our  own)  is  generally  con 
sidered  necessary  as  an  accomplishment.     This  ques- 


316  AMERICAN   EDUCATION. 

tion,  however,  is  one  of  expediency,  and  may  safely 
be  left  to  the  judgment  of  the  teacher.  It  is  enough 
to  know,  that  a  careful  and  analytical  study  of  our 
own  language,  at  least,  is  necessary  for  any  well- 
educated  woman.  She  should  not  be  contented  with 
any  mere  cursory  glance  at  grammars  and  dictiona 
ries:  they  are  but  tools.  It  is  the  actual  use,  power,  and 
philosophy  of  language  which  is  wanted.  Take  some 
English  classic  author  —  for  example,  Addison  or 
Hume,  Milton  or  Pope — and  examine  and  compare 
sentence  after  sentence,  and  page  after  page.  Thus 
the  force  and  meaning  of  words,  and  the  power  and 
beauty  of  the  language,  will  be  understood.  Here,  as 
in  the  study  of  physical  science,  we  shall  have  a  new 
exercise  of  different  faculties  of  the  mind.  We  have 
comparison,  analogies  of  expression,  variations  of 
thought,  the  application  of  metaphor  and  figures. 
In  fine,  we  are  in  a  new  department  of  science,  and 
acquire,  as  we  proceed,  new  ideas.  I  have  already 
given  a  sketch  (Chapter  IX.)  of  the  use  and  advantage 
of  this  study.  It  is  the  last  one  which  should  be 
neglected  in  female  education. 

COMPOSITION. 

Composition,  or  writing,  is  one  of  the  very  best 
exercises  to  acquire  a  knowledge  of  language.  In 
fact,  it  is  not  possible  to  attain  a  complete  knowledge 
of  it  without  being  expert  in  the  use  of  the  pen  and 
the  expression  of  thought.  Women  are  not  usually, 


THE   EDUCATION  OF  WOMEN.  317 

in  the  course   of  their   employments,  led   to  write 
much  of  what  is  termed   literary  composition  ;   but 
there  is  one  department  in  which  they  are,  or  should 
be,  supreme— that  is,  epistolary  composition.    A  very 
large  part   of   the  correspondence  of  families   falls 
upon  them.     Nor  is  this  all.     The  correspondence  of 
families  makes  a  very  large  part  of  the  history  of  the 
times.      Letters  are  the  documents  to  which  histo 
rians  now  resort  "for  the  materials  of  history  :    they 
are  also  among   the  most  pleasant  and   instructive 
modes  of  communion  in  society.      Cast  asunder,  and 
often  separted  widely  for  years,  kindred  and  friends 
have  little  other  mode   of  keeping  up   their  inter 
course  and  friendship.      It  is  a  mode  too  much  neg 
lected.      It  is  a  duty  of  families,  and  office  of  friends, 
and  a  delightful  exercise  of  mind,  to  keep  up,  by  let 
ters,  a  constant  intercourse  of  those  whom  nature  and 
affection  should  bind  together.     Unfortunately,  there 
is  a  large  part  of  those  who  are  even  well  educated, 
who  value  at  too  low  a  rate  the  high  privilege  of 
epistolary  correspondence.      They  estimate  the  use 
ful  consequences,  also,  at  altogether  too  low  a  value. 
Among  these,  are  not  only  the  valuable  exercise  of 
mind  to  the  writer,  but  the  perpetuity  and  strength 
ening  of  friendships,  which  could  in  no  other  manner 
be  kept  up.      Some  persons,  and   especially   many 
ladies,  are   averse  to   writing   letters,  because  they 
think  they  do  not  appear  well  on  paper.      Now,  the 
appearance  of  a  person  in  a  letter  depends  on  exactly 
three  things,  which  it  is  the  office  of  a  good  education 
.   21* 


AMERICAN  EDUCATION. 

to  give.  These  are,  thought,  style,  and  handwriting. 
I  need  say  no  more  on  this  head  than  to  make  these 
suggestions.  Fortunately,  we  have  in  the  English 
language  some  of  the  finest  examples  of  epistolary 
correspondence.  The  letters  of  Cowper  are  in  the 
first  class  of  English  literature,  and  are  beautiful  ex 
amples  both  of  style  and  refined  feeling. 


READING. 


Reading  is  the  most  important  means  of  acquiring 
that  general  information  which  is  necessary  to  appear 
well  in  conversation.     Of  the  different  classes  of  read 
ing,  that  of  history  is  the  most  valuable.     But  a  wo 
man,  in  this  respect,  may  be  contented  with  a  thor 
ough  reading  of  those  authors  which  will  give  her  a 
continuous  and  distinct  outline  of  the  history  of  civil 
ized  nations.     Among  these,  the  one  upon  which  she 
should  specially  dwell  is  the  history  of  England  and 
America.     The  history  of  England,  thoroughly  stud 
ied,  embraces  the  history  of  the  last  thousand  years. 
In  that  time  she  has  been  mingled  with  the  growth 
and  progress  of  the  whole  civilized  world.     Her  arms, 
her  commerce,  and  her  arts  have  grown  beyond  those 
of  any  other  nation,  and  given  a  stamp  to  the  civili 
zation    of  mankind.      The    Anglo-American    in    the 
United   States  is  but  a  branch  of  the   same  stock. 
We  cannot  separate  our  history  from  the  history  of 
England  ;  nor  can  we  deny  what  we   owe  to  the 
parent  family. 


THE   EDUCATION   OF  WOMEN. 

But,  to  a  lady,  reading  should  be  extended  to  all  the 
branches  of  polite  literature.  Poetry,  history,  essays, 
all  that  makes  the  body  of  English  classic  literature, 
she  should  read  as  much  of  as  time  and  opportunity 
will  allow.  This  is  the  great  means  by  which  (so  far 
as  knowledge  goes)  she  is  to  refine,  polish,  and  adorn 
her  mind.  Here,  again,  the  mother  and  the  teacher 
should  be  the  guide,  as  far  as  guidance  is  possible.  I 
may  here  suggest  that  a  family  library,  if  it  be  but  a 
dozen  volumes,  should  always  be  composed  of  the 
best  of  their  land.  The  want  of  discrimination  in 
allowing  all  sorts  of  trash  to  come  within  the  reach 
of  youth,  is  the  great  evil  in  regard  to  reading.  All 
temptation  cannot  be  kept  out  of  the  way ;  but  surely 
there  is  no  need  of  bringing  temptation  with  double 
strength  into  the  family. 


ACCOMPLISHMENTS. 


It  is  said  that  a  distinguished  gentleman  once  took 
a  young  lady  to  be  placed  in  a  celebrated  female 
seminary.  He  was  asked  what  he  would  have  her 
taught  ?  "  Dress  and  address,"  he  replied.  "  It  shall 
be  done,"  said  the  lady  teacher.  Beyond  doubt,  both 
the  lady  and  the  gentleman  estimated  accomplish 
ments  too  highly.  The  term  "  address,"  in  its  full 
sense,  will,  indeed,  comprehend  much  of  education ; 
but  it  is  that  part  which  appears  in  society,  and  not 
that  which  gives  strength  to  the  solid  qualities  of  the 
mind.  After  these  solid  qualities  have  been  made 


320  A  :,i  E  R  :  c  A  x  i:  DUCAT  TON. 

sure  of,  then  we  should  not  neglect  the.  graces  and 
accomplishments.  It  may  be  safely  admitted,  that  in 
women  the  accomplishments  may  be  cultivated  to  a 
greater  extent  than  among  men.  The  feminine  form 
and  their  softer  dispositions  seem  to  invite  a  culture  of 
the  refinements  arid  elegancies  of  life.  Where  hard 
necessity  has  not  precluded  them  from  such  advan 
tages,  there  seems  no  objection  to  the  culture  of  those 
arts  and  studies,  in  a  moderate  degree,  whose  object 
is  to  refine  and  adorn,  rather  than  to  serve  the  mere 
wants  of  life.  In  the  idea  of  accomplishments,  how 
ever,  different  persons  include  a  great  variety  of 
things.  I  shall  be  contented  here  with  some  hints  on 
what  I  think  the  most  valuable  of  the  accomplish 
ments. 

1.  The    first  and  greatest    accomplishment   for  a 
lady  is  the  art  of  elegant  conversation.     I  call  this 
an  art,  although  most  women  have  a  natural  tendency 
to  converse  with  ease.     But  elegant  and  pleasant  con 
versation    must    have  for  its  basis   a   well-informed 
mind  ;  and  not  only  that,  but  one  well  instructed  in 
the  usages  and  requisitions  of  polite  society.     Much 
of  this  is  to  be  learned  from  being  in  good  society, 
much  from  the  instruction  of  an  experienced  teacher, 
and  much  from  the  exercise  of  conversational  talent 
and  observation  upon  others. 

2.  The  next  most  useful  accomplishment  (if  not 
the  first)  is,  to  have  a  perfect  acquaintance  with  what 
is  called   the  proprieties  of  life.      These   are   what 
usage,  what  politeness,  what  good  feeling,  and  good 


THE  EDUCATION  OF  WOMEN.  321 

neighborhood  require  in  the  intercourse  of  society. 
There  are  a  thousand  nameless  acts  which  are  ex 
pected  in  society,  and  specially  of  women,  which  can 
not  be  neglected,  and  which  make  up  a  part  of  a 
woman's  circle  of  social  duties.  Not  to  be  proper, 
in  a  woman  is  almost  equivalent  to  not  being  moral. 
Society,  by  its  usages,  require  many  things  for  pro 
priety  sake,  which  may  be  almost  called  a  minor  code 
of  morals. 

3.  Music  and  drawing  seem  the  chief  ornamental 
acquirements  which  society  has  assigned  to  the  ladies. 
They  are  branches  of  the  fine  arts,  and  therefore,  if 
cultivated  at  all  except  by  artists,  seem  fairly  to  come 
within  the  circle  of  female  attainments.  Vocal  music 
seems  to  be  almost  natural  to  the  female  sex.  They 
hear  the  "  lullaby"  at  the  cradle,  and  seem  to  imitate 
and  adopt  the  melody  of  the  voice  from  their  mothers. 
For  this  reason,  and  for  the  sake  of  sacred  music, 
singing  may  be  admitted  as  an  almost  indispensable 
accomplishment  among  women,  and  one  which  may 
safely  be  cultivated  with  much  care.  But  when  we 
come  to  instrumental  music,  it  does  not  seem  to  be 
so  essential.  The  almost  universal  use  (among  edu 
cated  young  women)  of  the  piano  seems  to  raise  a 
doubt,  whether  all  women  can  be  really  born  with 
such  taste  and  talent  for  the  piano  that  one-third  of 
two  or  three  years  should  be  consumed  upon  it.  To 
learn  the  use  of  the  piano  has  become  a  fashion,  and, 
like  other  fashions,  is  carried  to  an  extreme.  The 
time,  money,  and  labor  of  one  half  of  those  who  learn 

L  _    . . — 


322  AMERICAN   EDUCATION. 

is  entirely  thrown  away.  What  would  you  substi 
tute?  some  one  may  say.  If  an  instrument  must 
be  played  upon,  the  simple  guitar  is  sufficient  to 
accompany  a  lady's  voice,  which  is  the  principal 
object  in  learning  to  play  on  the  piano.  Again,  the 
harp  is  a  more  graceful  and  a  more  melodious  instru 
ment  than  the  piano.  But  one  half  who  learn  instru 
mental  music  would  find  themselves  better  paid  and 
better  satisfied  by  learning  the  art  of  drawing,  which 
is  both  useful  and  ornamental.  First,  there  is  linear 
drawing,  in  which  may  be  embraced  the  principles 
of  architecture  ;  secondly,  there  is  landscape  drawing, 
in  which  is  included  perspective ;  thirdly,  there  is 
drawing  of  the  human  figure,  which  is  very  attrac 
tive  and  amusing,  inasmuch  as  a  ready  hand  may, 
with  this  art,  sketch  many  subjects  from  living  society ; 
fourthly,  there  is  topographical  drawing,  which  be 
longs  more  especially  to  the  province  of  engineers. 

4.  I  need  say  nothing  about  a  variety  of  minor  ac 
complishments,  such  as  fancy  needle- work,  &c.,  which 
are  suggested  naturally  in  the  intercourse  of  society. 
I  shall  only  add,  that  one  or  two  acquirements,  which 
may  be  classed  under  the  head  of  accomplishments, 
is  enough  for  most  young  women,  and  more  than  the 
mass  can  have.  Perhaps  the  highest  and  most  useful 
accomplishment  (after  the  proprieties)  is  graceful 
manners.  But  this  is  a  grace  which  cannot  be  defined. 
Its  power  is  often  wonderful,  and  its  attractions  pleas 
ing  to  all  classes  of  people.  A  refined  taste,  an  acute 
sense  of  propriety,  natural  dignity,  kind  feelings,  and 


THE  EDUCATION   OF  WOMEN.  323 

a  wish  to  please,  are  its  sources.  After  all,  however, 
this  pleasant  talent  cannot  be  always  acquired  with 
out  certain  previous  graces,  which  are  the  gift  of 
Providence.  All  persons,  however,  can  endeavor  to 
please  ;  all  can  show  kindness,  and  all  can  be  civil  in 
their  address. 

RELIGIOUS    TEACHINGS. 

It  is  almost  superfluous  to  say,  that  upon  mothers 
devolves  the  earliest  part  of  religious  training,  and  by 
far  the  most  important.  The  instances  are  rare  in 
which  a  child  has  been  instructed  by  its  mother  in 
certain  religious  principles  and  duties,  and  departs 
from  them  in  after  life.  This  instruction  may  not 
make  a  religious  character;  but  it  does  fix  certain 
ideas  of  faith  and  duty  with  a  strength  of  memory 
which  no  time  wholly  eradicates.  It  was  somewhere 
remarked  by  John  Quincy  Adams,  that  no  equal 
number  of  words  in  English  literature  had  been  so 
often  repeated  and  so  long  remembered  as  that  little 
child's  prayer : 

"  Now  I  l.iy  me  down  to  sleep, 
I  pray  the  Lord  my  soul  to  keep. 
If  I  should  die  before  I  wake, 
I  pray  the  Lord  my  soul  to  take." 

Strong  men,  who  seem  insensible  to  \veakness,  and 
whose  eyes  seldom  see  the  pages  of  the  Bible,  repeat 
it  in  the  watches  of  the  night;  great  men,  whose 
names  are  brilliant  in  the  world's  eyes,  repeat  this 


324  AMERICAN  EDUCATION. 

child-like  orison  when,  for  a  moment,  the  world's 
glare  is  forgotten,  and  the  soul  takes  a  single  glance 
upon  the  world  eternal.  Strength  and  weakness, 
greatness  and  humility,  wealth  and  poverty,  turn  for 
a  moment  from  the  cares  of  life  to  repeat  this  long- 
remembered  prayer — so  simple,  so  powerful,  so  full 
of  a  mother's  memory  and  a  mother's  teachings. 

With  such  high  power,  and  such  profound  respon 
sibility,  it  is  not  to  be  supposed  that  any  young  wo 
men  will  be  educated  without  some  attention  to  their 
religious  duties.  The  common  spring  of  all  knowl 
edge  on  this  head — the  purest,  richest,  and  best — is 
the  Bible  ;  and  on  the  study  of  the  Bible  I  have  said, 
in  another  place  (Chapter  XIIL),  all  that  I  have  to 
suggest. 

DOMESTIC    ECONOMY. 

The  only  idea  which  remains  to  suggest  is,  that 
some  knowledge  of  domestic  economy  seems  essential 
to  any  proper  course  of  female  education.  Generally, 
this  has  been  left  to  home-teaching.  But  common 
sense  seems  to  teach,  that  there  are  a  great  many  ele 
mentary  ideas  of  home  economy  which  might  well 
be  taught  in  a  female  seminary  ;  and,  as  the  very  best 
ideas  on  that  subject  would  be  given,  it  is  very  cer 
tain  that  many  of  the  pupils  would  get  information 
which  they  could  not  obtain  at  home.  Upon  this 
subject,  however,  as  I  know  little,  I  shall  say  little. 
I  believe  some  attention  is  paid  to  this  subject  in  most 


THE  EDUCATION   OF  WOMEN.  325 

of  our  female  schools.  At  any  rate,  it  may  safely  be 
left  to  the  sagacity  of  the  ladies.  They  are  well 
enough  aware,  that  while  we  endeavor  to  send  the 
spirit  forth  over  the  widest  horizon,  and  strengthen 
its  pinions  for  the  noblest  flights,  yet  the  body  must 
be  cared  for,  and  much  of  happiness  depends  upon  its 
little  comforts.  This  is  peculiarly  the  province,  in 
our  American  society,  of  the  wife,  mother,  and  sister. 

In  the  following  programme,  I  have  arranged  a 
general  formula  of  the  suggestions  made  in  the  pre 
vious  pages.  It  will  serve  to  give  a  bird's-eye  view 
of  the  principles  I  wish  to  bring  out.  Some  one 
may  say,  why  have  you  not  inserted  this  or  that 
particular  study,  which  is  frequently  taught.  For 
example,  why  have  you  said  nothing  about  Latin  and 
Greek  ?  Because  under  the  general  term  language 
in  the  table,  is  included  any  language  which  may  be 
thought  by  teachers  the  best  adapted  to  the  end  in 
view.  Again  :  the  study  of  the  dead  languages  may 
safely  be  left  discretionary,  to  be  pursued  or  not,  as 
may  seem  wisest  in  the  particular  circumstances  in 
which  a  pupil  is  placed.  They  may  be  very  proper 
and  useful  in  some  cases  and  not  in  others. 

Again  :  it  may  be  asked  why  1  did  not  enumerate 
botany  and  other  minor  subjects.  Because  my  ob 
ject  was  to  suggest  the  elements  and  principles  of 
education,  and  what  course  of  study  is  necessary  to 
bring  out  and  strengthen  the  several  faculties  of 
mind,  and  not  to  determine  an  order  of  study,  which 
is  more  properly  the  business  of  an  actual  teacher. 
28 


326 


AMERICAN   EDUCATION. 


PROGRAMME  OF  FEMALE  EDUCATION. 


Classification. 

Subjects. 

Operations  of  Mind. 

Philosophical 
Idwas. 

Mathematics.    < 

PERCEPTION, 
CONSCIOUSNKSS, 
REASONINQ. 

}        Logic  of 
Demonstration. 

Chemistry.      «j 

OBSERVATION, 
EXPERIMENT, 
JUDGMENT. 

1        Logic  of 
J     Experiment. 

PHYSICAL 
SCIENCE. 

Natural  Phi-    / 
losophy.          ^ 

REFLECTION, 
CAUSATION, 
MKMORY. 

1    The  Relations 
>    of  Cause  and 
J           Effect. 

Mechanical       \ 
Philosophy. 

APPLICATION   OF    PRINCI 
PLUS, 

REALIZATION  OF  POWER 
COMPOSITION  OF  FORCES 

]    The  Relations 
^    of  Force  and 
Motion. 

Astronomy.      1 

OBSERVATION, 
GENERALIZATION, 
SYSTEMATIZING. 

1  The  Generaliza- 
f  tion  of  Causes. 

r 

The  Vocal-       l 
ulary.             \ 

KRCEPTION, 
MEMORY. 

)  Exercise  of  Re- 
J  tentive  Powers. 

Grammar.          \ 

NALYSIS, 
ONSTRUCTION. 

>      Principle  of 
J          Order. 

LANGUAGE/ 

Composition.      < 

HOUGHT, 
OMBINATION, 
ASTE, 
UDGMENT. 

Principles  of 
r-   Attention  and 
Discrimination. 

Reading. 

HOUGHT, 
EFLElTION, 
RITIC1SM. 

Principles  of 
>  Curiosity,  Ideas 
of  the  "Mind. 

ACCOM-       f 
PLISH-      J 
MENTS. 

Art  of  Conver-    ~\ 
sation,            \. 
The  Proprieties,  J 
Manners, 
Drawing,          v. 
Music.           J 

OCIAL  FEELINGS, 
OCIAL  IDEAS. 

OVE  OF  APPEARANCE. 
DEAS  OF  PROPORTION. 
DEAS  OF  HARMONY. 

Society. 
Beauty. 

DUTIES.      \ 

( 

Study  of  the      ~\ 
Bible, 
Religious  In-      f 
struction, 
Domestic  Econ-  i 
omy.             \ 

DEAS  OF  RELIGION, 
DEVOTION. 

DEAS  OF  THE  FAMILY, 
DEAS  OF  FAMILY  DUTY. 

Relations  of 
•  Man  to  God  and 
Man  to  Man. 

MISCELLA 
NEOUS  STU-< 

DIES. 

I 

Natural  His-     *\ 
tory,              (.  ] 
Physiology, 
Political.  Consti-  )   i 
tutions,            \ 
Intellectual  Phi-  ) 
losophy.           \   1 

DEAS  OF  NATURE. 

DEAS    OF  POLITICAL    SO 
CIETY. 

DEAS  OF  THE  MIND. 

Nature. 
•    Government. 
Mind. 

THE  EDUCATION   OF  WOMEN. 

I  do  not  pretend  to  have  arranged  the  development 
of  the  faculties  of  the  mind  with  precise  philosoph 
ical  accuracy  ;  but  I  have  given  a  general  formula  of 
what  I  think  is  the   proper  order  of  study,  and  of 
those  branches  which  are  necessary  to  exercise  in 
succession  all  the  talents,  and  make  a  well-balanced 
mind.     Of  course,   two  or   three  branches  may  be 
studied  at  the  same  time ;  science  and  language  may 
be  pursued  very  well  together :    some  one  of  the  ac 
complishments  may  be  taken  as  an  accompaniment. 
This  is   the  usual   course ;   but  I  may  remark,  that 
mixing  too  many  studies  together  is  one  of  the  pre 
vailing  faults  of  modern  education.      Two  studies 
and  one  accomplishment  are  as  much  as  ever  ought 
to  be  pursued  at  one  time.      The  mind  does  not  act 
clearly  or  strongly  when  it  is  diverted  into  many 
channels  ;  nor  does  it  proceed  so  fast.     Let  it  pursue 
each   subject    distinctly    and   accurately,    and    both 
more  progress  will  be  made,  and  the  faculties  devel 
oped  will  be  more  strengthened. 


ELEMENTARY  IDEAS, 


In  what  has  here  been  presented  on  the  subject  of 
American  education,  I  am  conscious  there  are  no  dis 
coveries.  I  have  simply  attempted  to  bring  out  the 
leading  ideas  of  what  is  necessary  for  the  education 
of  a  free  people.  The  fundamental  ideas  are  these:— 


L= 


328  AMERICAN  EDUCATION. 

1st.  A  free  people  govern  themselves. 

2d.  A  free  people  must  have  free  minds. 

3d.  Free  minds  must  be  enlightened ;  ignorance 
makes  slavery. 

4th.  To  enlighten  mind,  the  soul  itself  must  be 
strengthened  and  developed,  intellectually  and  spir 
itually. 

5th.  That  to  strengthen  the  soul,  it  is  first  neces 
sary  to  think. 

6th.  That  to  think  rightly,  on  all  subjects,  it  is 
necessary  to  bring  out  and  strengthen  all  the  facul 
ties  of  the  mind. 

7th.  That  to  bring  out  all  the  faculties  in  succes 
sion,  education  should  instruct  and  discipline  the 
mind  in  the  laws  of  nature  (science),  the  laws  of  ex 
pression  (language  and  literature),  the  laws  of  social 
nature  (conversation,  manners,  and  government), 
and  the  laws  of  spiritual  nature  (the  Bible  and  intel 
lectual  philosophy)  ;  and  in  addition  to  these  instruc 
tions,  such  teachings  as  may  be  deemed  peculiarly 
necessary  to  women. 

8th.  The  ultimate  idea  in  the  whole  scheme  I  have 
laid  down  is,  that  the  great  object  is  to  give  POWER 

AND  DEVELOPMENT  TO  THE  MIND.       A  Strong  and  clear 

mind  can  turn  its  talents  to  any  object  or  any  busi 
ness,  and  succeed  better  than  those  who  have  been 
educated  to  that  particular  business  by  a  routine  in 
struction.  In  our  country,  all  the  conditions  of  so 
ciety,  the  nature  of  the  government,  and  the  tastes  of 
the  people,  require  the  development  of  general  prin- 


r 


THE  EDUCATION   OF  WOMEN.  329 

ciples  in  education,  rather   than  the   acquisition  of 
special  details  of  knowledge. 


THE  FUTURE. 

When  I  read  the  prophetic  delineations  of  a  happy 
future,  and  behold  the  beautiful  pictures  drawn  by 
inspired  writers  ;  when  I  look  upon  the  visible  uni 
verse,  and  see  every  law  perfect — every  animate  or 
inanimate  thing  fulfilling  its  functions  —  every  orb 
rolling  with  unvarying  accuracy  through  its  ap 
pointed  circuit ;  and  when  I  feel  and  know  that  man 
has  every  faculty  of  soul,  and  every  taste  adapted  to 
perform,  bring  out,  and  enjoy  the  same  perfect  round 
of  beautiful  harmonies*— nothing  wanting  but  his  own 
will — I  also  feel  that  the  prophetic  picture  is  not  a 
delusion  ;  that  the  time  will  come  when  humanity 
will  exhibit  the  same  beautiful  order  and  harmony ! 
when  the  perverted  mind  will  be  restored  to  its  recti 
tude,  and  this  earth  exhibit  the  scene  of  a  happy  and 
a  rejoicing  people ! 

But  when  ?  It  cannot  be  doubted  that  this  period 
may  be  hastened  or  retarded  by  the  action  of  the 
people  themselves.  If  they  prefer  darkness  rather 
than  light,  they  may  be  suffered  long  to  dwell  in 
darkness.  If  they  would  hasten  the  time,  they  must 
take  the  light  and  diffuse  it ;  the  light  which  the  few 
have  must  be  made  common  to  the  many :  the  lump 
must  be  leavened.  It  is  the  mind — the  soul — which 
must  be  enlightened.  The  heart  of  the  fathers  must 
28* 

I 


330  AMERICAN  EDUCATION. 

be  turned  to  the  children,  and  the  heart  of  the  chil 
dren  to  their  fathers — when,  in  the  words  of  the  last 
prophet,  the  now  risen  Sun  of  Righteousness  shall 
spread  the  healing  of  his  wings  over  the  earth  to 
make  it  a  delightsome  land. 


14  DAY  USE 

RETURN  TO  DESK  FROM  WHICH  BORROWED 

LOAN  DEPT. 

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RenewaU  may  be  made'  4  days  priod  to  date  due. 
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